tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10061459019681276342019-01-18T05:59:19.435-05:00TransEpiscopal"As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves
with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave
or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in
Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's
offspring, heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:27-29 (NRSV)Shellynoreply@blogger.comBlogger164125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-17673179706826060482015-07-18T00:19:00.004-04:002015-07-18T00:24:52.954-04:00Celebrating Our Baptismal Identities: A TransEpiscopal General Convention Wrap-Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vMcluS9rnjU/VanSHN0aCFI/AAAAAAAAA58/uXHKyYKgjjI/s1600/IMG_7913.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vMcluS9rnjU/VanSHN0aCFI/AAAAAAAAA58/uXHKyYKgjjI/s320/IMG_7913.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">As we hit the two-week mark from the ending of the 78<sup>th</sup>General Convention of The Episcopal&nbsp;Church, I look back on those nearly two weeks in Salt Lake City with a sense of gratitude for what the Church accomplished. We elected <a href="http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/06/27/north-carolina-bishop-michael-curry-elected-as-27th-presiding-bishop/">Bishop Michael Curry the new Presiding Bishop</a>. We passed legislation in support of the <a href="http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/07/15/convention-further-strengthens-churchs-position-on-immigration-refugees/">rights of immigrants and refugees</a>. We passed a <a href="http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/07/01/racial-justice-work-is-highlight-of-proposed-2016-2018-budget/">new initiative on racial justice and reconciliation</a>. We began the process of <a href="http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/07/03/convention-agrees-to-major-structural-changes/">shifting our own structure as a General Convention</a>. We passed legislation moving us clearly into the path of <a href="http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/07/01/general-convention-approves-marriage-equality/">liturgical marriage equality</a>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">We also passed several trans- affirming resolutions. In fact, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all </i>of the resolutions that TransEpiscopal was there to support (a list of which you can find <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2015/06/trans-legislation-at-general-convention.html">here</a>) passed. Two of these looked beyond the borders of TEC: <a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/A051/current_english_text">A051</a> (“Support LGBT African Advocacy") and <a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/D028/current_english_text">D028</a> (“Oppose Conversion Therapy”). Another pair, <a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/A073/current_english_text">A073</a> and <a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/A074/current_english_text">A074</a>, called for “the creation of inclusive policy and practices in regard to LGBTQ and gender variant individuals" as part of a broader update of TEC’s call for an update of TEC's Model Policies &amp; Resources for the Prevention of Sexual Misconduct and Abuse of Youth and Children.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The two resolutions on which we focused the most strongly were about name changes: <a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/D036/current_english_text">D036</a> ("Adding Name Change Rite to the Book of Occasional Services”) and <a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/D037/current_english_text">D037</a> (“Amending Names in Church Records, Registries and Certificates”). </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/D036/current_english_text">D036: "Adding a NameChange Rite to the Book of Occasional Services”</a><o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B5vfWjzK3Ao/VanS19Zg4VI/AAAAAAAAA6E/Hm__W1dgOXQ/s1600/Changes%2BCover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B5vfWjzK3Ao/VanS19Zg4VI/AAAAAAAAA6E/Hm__W1dgOXQ/s1600/Changes%2BCover.png" /></a>As reported earlier, a number of people, both trans and cisgender, spoke at the open hearing on this&nbsp;resolution before the Committee on Prayer Book and Liturgy. All testimony was supportive—no one spoke in opposition. The testimony was also well received, and the committee supported the resolution strongly. They voted it forward to the House of Bishops with an amendment that we felt good about as well. The original wording of the resolution called for the planned expansion of the&nbsp;<i>Book of Occasional Services</i> to include a particular name change rite from a resource entitled <i><a href="https://www.churchpublishing.org/products/index.cfm?fuseaction=add&amp;productID=495">Changes:Prayers and Services Honoring Rites of Passage</a></i>. The amended version of the resolution opened that process, inviting the revisers of the <i>BOS</i> to consult both that rite and other rites. Other rites they might consult, for instance, include the one in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Trans-Gendered-Theology-Ministry-Communities-Religion/dp/0829815287">Justin Tannis’s pioneering 2003 book</a>. This amended version of D036 then passed both the House of Bishops and of Deputies on their respective consent calendars. This means that the resolution was basically considered so non-controversial that it could simply be approved without discussion. Very good news!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4Wu95TcFOxI/VanTRg5ceAI/AAAAAAAAA6M/uJmRXjpj_fA/s1600/Tanis%2BBook%2BCover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4Wu95TcFOxI/VanTRg5ceAI/AAAAAAAAA6M/uJmRXjpj_fA/s200/Tanis%2BBook%2BCover.png" width="138" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So we are on our way to having a widely accessible name change liturgy in The Episcopal Church. Over the next three years, as the <a href="https://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/">Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music </a>(SCLM) revises the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Book of Occasional Services</i>, it will incorporate a name change liturgy. At the next General Convention the <a href="https://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/">SCLM</a> will present its revised <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BOS </i>to the 79<sup>th</sup> General Convention in Austin, TX and will call for its approval. In the meantime, for those interested in using or putting together a name change rite, you too might consult the two above mentioned sources, among others: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.churchpublishing.org/products/index.cfm?fuseaction=add&amp;productID=495">Changes</a></i>&nbsp; and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Trans-Gendered-Theology-Ministry-Communities-Religion/dp/0829815287">Justin Tannis’s book</a>. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/D037/current_english_text">D037 “Amending Namesin Church Records, Registries and Certificates”</a><o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Like D036, D037 also passed both Houses and is now an act of the General Convention. </div><div class="MsoNormal">D037 addressed the pastoral need for TEC to respond to requests by those who have had a legal name change to amend names in church records and to reissue certificates. It calls for the church to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">study</i> what canonical issues—if any—there may be to fulfilling such requests. It also called for trans people to be consulted as part of that study, since the resolution itself was generated precisely by the experiences of trans people in our church—by people requesting a new baptismal, confirmation, or ordination certificate after they have legally changed their name, for instance.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Like D036, this resolution was supported by powerful testimony during the open hearing process, this time before the Committee on Structure and Governance. Again, all testimony at this level was supportive, and the committee was glad to move it forward in the legislative process. And as with D036, the committee amended its language. The substance of the resolution stayed the same—the changes simply impacted what other committees should help plan and execute the study. While D036 traveled first to the House of Bishops, D037 began its road in the House of Deputies . </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unlike</i> D036, however, D037 was discussed on the floor of Convention (and not only in the open hearing process). This, too, was a good thing. On the whole, the debate was supportive with some constructive criticism:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>a&nbsp;deputy from the diocese of Fon du Lac spoke in support of the resolution and told a powerful story that underscored the broad range of people potentially impacted by this resolution. After her husband left the family, the deputy explained, the local Episcopal church took the family under its wing. Her daughter, for whom the father’s departure had been especially difficult, eventually sought to be baptized. But because we don’t currently have an official policy about how name changes impact our historical church documents, the daughter didn’t want to risk having her dad’s last name on her baptismal certificate: she waited until it was legally changed to her mother’s maiden name before proceeding. (<i>All of us in the gallery were very moved by this testimony.</i>)&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>a deputy from Michigan wondered why this needed to be studied when it so clearly referenced a pressing pastoral need. Why wait three years when people need clarity now? (<i>Listening from the gallery, we sympathized—we want the clarity now as well, but we also want this to be done right.</i>)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Deputy Fredrica Harris Thompsett from the Diocese of Massachusetts made the connection between this resolution and the power of baptismal naming. She expressed a desire that everyone might be able to proudly hang their baptismal certificate on the wall reflecting their current identity. If study is indeed necessary, she as an historian invited us to be open to the possibility that the process could widen our appreciation of the matter. And as a theological educator she underscored that studies are not necessarily a bad thing. (<i>In the gallery, we very much agreed on all counts.</i>)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>a deputy from Pittsburg proposed an amendment adding the officers of the national Episcopal historians and archivists to the list of those involved in the study. She did so after expressing a concern to be careful about “altering historical records after the fact.” (<i>In the gallery we supported the idea of having historians and archivists involved—we too feel the need to be careful about this. We also have particular insights on how our histories impact us in the present that we look forward to sharing as the study is conducted.</i>)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>a deputy from Colorado supported the amendment and also identified with the resolution as a cisgender woman who changed her baptismal name several years ago. Although she goes by a different name now, she explained, that doesn’t erase the history of her life prior to her current name. Retaining records of aspects of personal and corporate history is a good thing, she concluded. (<i>Again, those of us in the gallery weren’t opposed to preserving necessary records. We simply want the Church to be very careful about how they are used in the present and future, to make sure that historical records are not projected into our present lives—or shared with others-- in ways that prevent us from free and full participation.</i>)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The amendment was passed, followed by the full resolution. I don’t recall hearing any no votes. It then continued on to the House of Bishops where it was put on the consent calendar and passed on the last day of General Convention. I heard the news while I was at the airport waiting to board my flight.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">*<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>*<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>*<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>*</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Now, two weeks out from the close of General Convention, as I think over all the amazing things that happened on so many fronts, and as I think about these particular resolutions that we put so much energy into supporting, I come back to Fredrica’s testimony in the House of Deputies. We are a people who have striven, who are striving, to claim and fully move into our baptismal identities. In this we stand with many—indeed, with all the body of Christ – and we share much even in the midst of some differences. And because of how we stand in the midst of that larger body we are reminded that we are always amid the already and the not yet. These resolutions are now entrusted to the General Convention and its (now shifting) interim bodies. They become the work of the Church, in progress, between now and 2018. Between now and 2018 we will join that progress, we will offer our support, insight, energy, and ultimately our trust. We look forward to having a name change liturgy in the Book of Occasional Services. We look forward to hanging our baptismal certificates on the wall. And while we still have much, much work still to do, right now let’s hang this General Convention on the wall—let’s celebrate.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div>Cameron Partridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730933611590305932noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-17240307510194519542015-06-30T20:16:00.000-04:002015-06-30T20:47:27.194-04:00Name Change Liturgies and Trans People: a Church of England Perspective<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i>This morning resolution D036 ("Adding a Name Change Rite to the Book of Occasional Services") was passed by its&nbsp;legislative committee and now heads to the House of Bishops, where it should be on their calendar tomorrow (and will subsequently need to pass the House of Deputies). As we&nbsp;await the forward movement of this resolution, TransEpiscopal is pleased to share this reflection from The Revd Dr. Christina Beardsley of the Church of England about how the&nbsp;Church of England is going through its own process regarding a name change liturgy. The major difference between D036 and the C of E's is that ours is <b>not</b> specifically a trans name change resolution, whereas theirs is in fact intended to be. TransEpiscopal is very glad that D036 proposes a rite broadly applicable to many people. At the same time, we are also glad to see that another part of the Anglican Communion is thinking about name change liturgies in connection with trans people. The Spirit seems to be moving in the midst of all of this, and we look forward to seeing what emerges.&nbsp;</i></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">The Blackburn Diocesan Synod Motion on Liturgies for Transgender People<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">A Blog Post for TransEpsicopal by the Revd Dr Christina Beardsley, <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">(former Changing Attitude, England trustee for trans people)<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1006145901968127634" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"></span></b><br /><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">First of all, thank you for inviting me to post again on the TransEpisocpal blog, and I’m sorry not to be joining the TransEpiscopal delegation at General Convention in Salt Lake City in July. I loved being with you in Indianapolis in 2012, and was so pleased and&nbsp;proud when the transgender non-discrimination resolutions were approved then. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--hQP0Up9HD0/VYnGj4RXVeI/AAAAAAAAA34/8ZmdRvM2kKg/s1600/Tina%2BBeardsley%2BGC2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--hQP0Up9HD0/VYnGj4RXVeI/AAAAAAAAA34/8ZmdRvM2kKg/s320/Tina%2BBeardsley%2BGC2012.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Revd Dr. Christina Beardsley at the 77th General Convention</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">It would have been exciting to be present at this year’s General Convention, when name change liturgies are being considered because, as you’ve no doubt heard, the General Synod of the Church of England will also be discussing this … at a date to be confirmed; but discuss this matter it will, at some point.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Let me explain – just a little – how governance works in the Church of England. Unlike TEC, with its triennial meetings of the General Convention, the Church of England’s General Synod meets twice, sometimes three times a year, depending on its current business load. The meetings are held in February (in London), July (in York) and, if need be, in November (in London); they usually last three to four days. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">General Synod is composed of three houses: Bishops, Clergy and Laity. The three Houses can, and do, meet separately – the House of Bishops (diocesans plus elected suffragans, plus, for the moment, elected women clergy representatives) and the College of Bishops (diocesans, suffragans, plus the elected women clergy) meet regularly at other times – but most of General Synod’s business and debating is conducted with members of all three houses present in the chamber, even if they subsequently vote by houses.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/about-us/structure/general-synod/synod-elections-2015/what-is-the-synod-and-what-does-it-do/#votingsystem">The Church of England’s synodical structure</a> is made up of Deanery Synods (composed of laity elected by the parishes, plus the licensed clergy of the deanery), Diocesan Synods (composed of clergy and laity, elected respectively by the clergy and lay members of the deanery synods) and General Synod (also elected by the clergy and lay members of deanery synods). There are a number of additional constituencies as well, including cathedral deans and universities. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">The opportunity to vote in Church elections is something I feel strongly about having been disenfranchised for at least four years as a consequence of my transition in 2001. It felt dreadful to be excluded from this important aspect of Church life, and I would urge anyone who has a vote to use it, wisely and well.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">There will be elections to the General Synod in 2015 and much is happening to ensure that people with inclusive views are elected on this occasion. Synod members serve for five years, and it was soon apparent that some of those who served during the last quinquennium had not been transparent about their views when they stood as candidates. That period was dominated by the debates on the consecration of women as bishops, and given the struggle that entailed, some of those who had claimed, as candidates, to ‘favour’ women’s ministry, evidently did not equate that conviction with their inclusion in the episcopate. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">The newly elected Synod will discuss the Shared Conversations on Human Sexuality that are taking place in the Church of England, with diocesan delegations currently meeting in regional groups, and <a href="http://www.inclusive-church.com/events/synod-15-campaign">it is vital that those elected support the full inclusion of lgbti people</a>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">It will also be the new General Synod that will discuss the following motion from the Blackburn Diocesan Synod:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><b>“That this Synod, recognising the need for transgender people to be welcomed and affirmed in their parish church, calls on the House of Bishops to consider whether some nationally commended liturgical materials might be prepared to mark a person's gender transition."</b><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">The Church of England’s synodical structure is a two-way street. General Synod can send matters for discussion to Diocesan and Deanery Synods, as it did with Women Bishops. Likewise, a Deanery Synod can send a successful motion to its Diocesan Synod for debate and, if approved there, on for discussion by the General Synod, as has happened in this case.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">The story of the Blackburn motion is one of grassroots Christian response. A young man approached his local church for baptism, following gender transition, but he had already been baptised, so the parish priest, the Revd Chris Newlands, Vicar of Lancaster Priory, worked with him to produce a suitable rite to mark this significant change in his life. Realising that this scenario must be occurring in other places, Chris brought it to the attention of his church council, and then his Deanery Synod (Lancaster and Morecambe), where a motion was passed, and sent on to the Blackburn Diocesan Synod. I prepared the background paper for the Blackburn Diocesan Synod debate, which is available <a href="http://changingattitude.org.uk/archives/8542">here</a>:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">After receiving Diocesan Synod approval, the motion was sent on to the General Synod. It is now parked in a list of such motions which you can find <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/about-us/structure/general-synod/agendas-and-papers/diocesan-synod-motions.aspx">here</a>.&nbsp;</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It will be for the General Synod’s Business Committee to decide when to schedule it for debate, and one can anticipate delay, maybe until the regional Shared Conversations are complete.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In the meantime there has been press interest in the motion, the most sensitive piece coming, naturally, from the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/21/proposal-for-transgender-baptism-to-go-before-church-of-england">Guardian</a>&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">with a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2015/may/22/why-church-needs-welcome-services-people-transitioning-gender">companion piece by the Revd Giles Fraser</a>, who mentions the late Revd Carol Stone (Carol and I were at theological college together, though neither was aware that the other was trans at that date – 1976-78).&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Guardian article also mentions Susan Musgrove’s Service of Affirmation and Blessing, which took place in her parish church in Northumberland in 2013, and which I blogged about at the time (<a href="http://changingattitude.org.uk/archives/7294">here</a>).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Services of this kind, therefore, are happening already and have been for some time. Will the General Synod have the courage to invite the House of Bishops to explore and commend forms of prayer for Church of England parishes that wish to celebrate with and affirm their transgender congregants and parishioners? I do hope so, given that parish clergy are already recognising and responding to a pastoral need. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Chris Newlands was interviewed about the motion on the BBC Radio 4 Sunday programme (which covers religious current affairs) on the 24<sup>th</sup> May 2015. Sadly, I don’t think you’ll be able to access the link but I’ll include it just in case (<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05vssqj">here</a>). The interview begins at 6 minutes 58 seconds.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Chris is asked why, if parish clergy are already devising services for transgender people, a common liturgy is needed. In reply, Chris notes that transgender people are a vulnerable group in society, often subject to bullying and abuse, and at high risk of suicide. He believes that an official Church of England service would be an important signal of the Church’s welcome, an affirmation of God’s love for transgender people that would counter the many negative messages transgender people often receive. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">As the <a href="http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2015/29-may/news/uk/diocese-of-blackburn-seeks-new-liturgy-for-trans-service">Revd Rachel Mann has commented</a>, it will also be important for trans people to be consulted and involved in the preparation of any liturgies, given that we are the best people to articulate our own needs, and some of us will be skilled in theology, spirituality and worship (Rachel, for instance, is a poet as well as being a priest).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">In the <a href="http://sibyls.gndr.org.uk/">Sibyls, Christian spiritualityfor transgender people</a>, </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;which I’ve belonged to for nearly two decades, we have noticed a huge change. In the early days of Sibyls, the mid to late 1990s, trans people were rejected by their churches, and Sibyls events the only place where members could receive Holy Communion as themselves. Today, society is so much better informed about trans matters, and clergy and congregations less judgemental and more receptive to trans people. Sadly, rejection can still happen, of course, but a transformation has taken place, and the grassroots desire for Church of England liturgies to mark trans people’s lives is part of that.</span></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eDtOlcGWB2c/VYnHIqDJDmI/AAAAAAAAA4A/0rHlirnkL_s/s1600/Tina%2BBeardsley.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eDtOlcGWB2c/VYnHIqDJDmI/AAAAAAAAA4A/0rHlirnkL_s/s200/Tina%2BBeardsley.JPG" width="132" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">At this side of the pond we will watch with interest as similar proposals come before the General Convention, praying for you, as I know you pray for us. Pray please that the Blackburn motion, now passed, will not be delayed too long in coming before the General Synod, and for its successful progress once it reaches there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>Cameron Partridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730933611590305932noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-70857941713193875812015-06-29T01:23:00.000-04:002015-06-29T01:23:02.807-04:00God Was There: Open Hearings on D036 & D037<div class="MsoNormal">by the Revd Dr. Cameron Partridge<br /><br />What a whirlwind the last couple of days at General Convention have been. Friday the news of the Supreme Court’s decision blew through Convention like wildfire. People are absolutely jubilant. And then yesterday Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina was elected the next Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church on a landslide, first ballot vote. He follows Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori as a pioneer: she has been the first woman elected to this position, while he is the first African American. He is an firey, articulate preacher and evangelist, the kind of inspiring leader you want to get up and follow to the ends of the earth. Yesterday the House of Deputies also discussed <a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/C019/current_english_text">C019</a> “Establish Response to Systemic Racial Injustice”. As <a href="http://www.deputynews.org/maybe-love-does-win/">Deputy Jennifer Baskerville Burrows wrote</a>, “To hear a white member of the [Social Justice and U.S. Policy] committee say words to the effect of, “we have the chance to make race the centerpiece of the next triennium” signals a shift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If funded, resolution C019 will put real muscle (to the tune of $1.2 million) behind the work of racial reconciliation for both justice and mission strategy.” </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Amid this intense, spirited movement, two of the resolutions that TransEpiscopal has been particularly tracking have also made their way through the open hearing process. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uiTV9kMBlZk/VZAVH4Bu3oI/AAAAAAAAA48/G9_zw0YHvsc/s1600/Andrew%2BAmanda%2BD037%2Btesimony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uiTV9kMBlZk/VZAVH4Bu3oI/AAAAAAAAA48/G9_zw0YHvsc/s320/Andrew%2BAmanda%2BD037%2Btesimony.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andrew Amanda testifying <br />in support of D037</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">D037 came first. This is the resolution that calls for a study of the canons to clarify that and/or how&nbsp;people who have legally changed their name(s) can have their names amended in church records and registries and church certificates reissued. It came to the committee on Governance and Structure last night amid several other complex resolutions on the possibilities of restructuring aspects of our Church’s governance. To begin, the chaplain of the committee lead us in prayer and a hymn, one of my favorites: “God is love and where true love is, God [Godself] is there.” When our resolution came up, something like six or seven of us testified in support of it. No one testified against. We told stories of how we or people we know have been impacted in our full access to the life of the Church by not being able to change records in a consistent way, or to have certificates reissued. After we were finished, a number of deputies and bishops came up to us, thanking us for our testimony. As the Structure committee sifts through all the complexities of the restructuring resolutions, our stories were, as one committee member later related to me, very straight forward and incarnational. We hope it moves out of committee and to one of the houses quickly.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Then twelve hours later, at 7:30 this morning, we gathered again to testify in support of D036. This resolution, on “Adding a Name Change Liturgy to the Book of Occasional Services”, came to the Committee on Prayerbook and Liturgy. Once again we began and ended with prayer and song, and once more we had a great group of people prepared to testify. I am hoping that some of these folks will write about their experiences as well. I lead off my own testimony by recounting an experience I had in 2001 when I first claimed my name. I described how I passed a difficult night, sharing the name Cameron with loved ones. When I went to church the following morning and was asked to do the first reading, I had been stunned to find myself standing before the congregation reading the story of Jacob wrestling with the divine stranger who then gave him the name Israel. Flash forward several years, my tesimony continued, to my years in parish ministry in which I had a trans parishioner who&nbsp;</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vBmsM8vGHyY/VZAV8eQMSDI/AAAAAAAAA5c/7t2AvyXMC7A/s1600/CP%2BA036%2Btestimony.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vBmsM8vGHyY/VZAV8eQMSDI/AAAAAAAAA5c/7t2AvyXMC7A/s320/CP%2BA036%2Btestimony.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Cameron Partridge testifying in support of D036.<br />Photo credit: the Living Church / Covenant magazine</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">wanted to take on his chosen name in the context of the congregation. And so I put together a rite as a component of the Sunday liturgy, drawing in part upon the name change rite in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Changes: Prayers and Services Honoring Rites of Passage</i> that is the subject of D036. To be able to take up one’s name in the midst of one’s congregation, to be named and seen in that way, can be a profound recognition of the deep spiritual significance of embodying one’s name, I concluded. I was also struck that in addition to the other trans folks who testified—and, again, there were several powerful speakers – there were non trans ones as well, lifting up the flexibility of this resource to be used by many people. These were folks in a religious order who talked about the possibilities of claiming a new name in connection with religious life. This rite is additionally applicable to situations like adoption or divorce/remarriage. I especially appreciate that this resource came out of indigenous Episcopal congregations, communities that have long recognized the spiritual significance of names and particularly of taking on a new name later in life.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uiTV9kMBlZk/VZAVH4Bu3oI/AAAAAAAAA48/G9_zw0YHvsc/s1600/Andrew%2BAmanda%2BD037%2Btesimony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--><br /><span style="text-align: center;">We now wait for D036 and D037 to go to their houses of origin. The name change liturgy resolution should first travel to the House of Bishops, while the name change canon study resolution should head to the House of Deputies. Meanwhile a number of resolutions related to liturgical marriage equality are coming forward to the Houses of Bishops and Deputies as well.&nbsp;</span><span style="text-align: center;">Stay tuned on all of these fronts.</span><br /><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span><span style="text-align: center;">Amid all of this, the hymn from the beginning of the D037 hearing continues to echo in my ears: God is love and where true love is, God Godself is there.</span><br /><br /><span style="text-align: center;"></span><br /><span style="text-align: center;"></span>Cameron Partridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730933611590305932noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-28179478265287813702015-06-26T19:26:00.000-04:002015-06-26T19:35:44.148-04:00Prayers of Thanksgiving<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DzoDTQvvTUw/VYm_IeJZTqI/AAAAAAAAA3M/3rhomVTB3kw/s1600/Gwen%2BFry%2BHead%2BShot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DzoDTQvvTUw/VYm_IeJZTqI/AAAAAAAAA3M/3rhomVTB3kw/s200/Gwen%2BFry%2BHead%2BShot.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">by the Rev. Gwen Fry</span></span><br /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Many in the Trans* community often don’t have much to be thankful for. There are many, who in making the choice to live authentically, lose much that we knew before. Some of us lose nearly everything, but gain our life. We all transition from one reality or state to another spiritually, psychologically and, for some, physically. Early on there doesn’t seem to be much at all to be thankful for. Life is hard and very difficult in the midst of life’s transitions. But eventually we all come to realize that we can be thankful for our life lived authentically. This is certainly true in my case.</span></span><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DzoDTQvvTUw/VYm_IeJZTqI/AAAAAAAAA3M/3rhomVTB3kw/s1600/Gwen%2BFry%2BHead%2BShot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Nearly one year ago to the day was the last time I celebrated the Eucharist as a priest in the Diocese of Arkansas. The evening before I celebrated at the altar that last time I snapped this photo through the door of the church at dusk. I placed my iPhone camera directly against the window and snapped the picture. A few days later I looked at the photos I had taken and much to my surprise, my reflection also somehow appeared in the top of the photo. A friend of mine commented on it and called it "The Trans Christ. "As the conversation continued I felt "Outside Looking In" was a better fit. At the time I reflected and wrote; “For me it defines my unique status in the church, not only as a trans woman, but also as a priest. It is funny how the church doesn’t know what to do with a priest who is trans and the trans community doesn’t know what to do with a trans woman who is a priest. So here I stand, for now, outside looking in.” The sense of loss and grief is present in every transition in life.</span></span><br /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I9XuMHt7J9c/VY3eZi1aG_I/AAAAAAAADg4/GC_N7crt3k0/s1600/gwen-church.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I9XuMHt7J9c/VY3eZi1aG_I/AAAAAAAADg4/GC_N7crt3k0/s200/gwen-church.png" width="192" /></a><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">In that pilgrimage through and out of transitions we begin to see and appreciate the unexpected generosity and compassion in our unencumbered new life. I think of the friendship that is created and the true caring and compassion they show when you least expect it; Joining you in an otherwise empty pew so you will not be alone. There is the unexpected dinner from a neighbor because “you look tired after a long day. Take this spaghetti and meat sauce. You don’t worry ‘bout cooking tonight.” There is the sack of fresh produce sitting on your doorstep when you arrive home after a long day of cleaning houses. There is the laying on of hands at the healing service by your priest. And the telephone call on Father’s Day.</span></span><br /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Nearly a year after that photograph was taken I realize I had it all wrong. I wasn’t “Outside Looking In.” Looking back at it again I was really “Inside Looking Out.” And I give thanks.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></span><br /><div><br /></div>Kori Pacyniakhttps://plus.google.com/114372455228618247134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-11891229041434797512015-06-26T12:08:00.002-04:002015-06-26T18:45:35.989-04:00A Crack in Our Current Practice: A Trans Angle on Marriage Equality in The Episcopal Church <i>As TransEpiscopal celebrates today's Supreme Court decision honoring marriage equality, and as we join in supporting efforts toward full liturgical marriage equality in The Episcopal Church here at General Convention, we offer this essay from Iain Stanford who brings a trans angle to this conversation.</i><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NLxczW-K4Kg/VY14OULUVmI/AAAAAAAAA4g/wa6mERkXtxE/s1600/ens_stanfordIain-435x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NLxczW-K4Kg/VY14OULUVmI/AAAAAAAAA4g/wa6mERkXtxE/s200/ens_stanfordIain-435x600.jpg" width="145" /></a><br />by Iain Stanford<br /><br />Over the last several weeks, the blogosphere and Facebook have been alive with different opinions, questions and concerns about the various resolutions regarding &nbsp;marriage equality in The Episcopal Church. As I read the various arguments, I keep wondering if people realize that we already have same sex couples in The Episcopal Church who were married using the service for Holy Matrimony in the Book of Common Prayer. Let me explain.<br /><br />At the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 2012, the church spoke loudly in support of transgender people as full members of our Church by adding gender identity and gender expression to the non-discrimination canons. As a trans person, though, the canons for marriage and the use of the BCP can become a bit, well, surreal.<br /><br />Take for example the fictional couple of Jim and Francine. On their day, they walk through the red doors and up the aisle, the celebration begins with the words from the BCP, “Dearly Beloved: We have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony.” (BCP 423) And a little later, the priest pronounces, “they are husband and wife.” &nbsp;(BCP 428) Now several years go by, and Francine slowly acknowledges all those feelings when it comes to gender. All her life, people have asked, “are you a girl or boy?” She talks to friends, therapists, and yes, even her priest. Eventually, she knows that God is calling her to move forward, to become Francis. She does! After transition, they are now Jim and Francis. They live into what it means to be a same sex couple in society. And yes, they are still married in the eyes of the Church.<br /><br />I can hear some people say, “But they came to the altar like any other heterosexual couple.”<br /><br />Which begs the question: what is the connection between the outward and visible sign or signs of gender and marriage?<br /><br />Ok, let’s take a more personal example, me! I am not married. When I was living in the world as a lesbian and partnered, I could not be married in the Church. At that time, I could only marry a man, but after my transition, everything shifted. Now I can marry a woman, but alas I can no longer marry a man. What exactly has changed?<br /><br />The shift here is not a theological one. It is not about Augustine’s theology of the goods of marriage or even Elizabeth Stuarts’ theology of gay and lesbian relationships as “just friends.” &nbsp;The shift is my physical body. My negotiation of gender has shifted from the outward and visible sign of a woman to that of a man, more specifically a trans man. My own sense of gender exceeds binary definition. I own my full gender history. My story, while common in trans communities, is not as well known outside of those circles. I am proud of the ways I participated in breaking down barriers for women in the 1980s, even if only in small ways. I was one of the few women who studied engineering in those years, and the first to be elected president of my university’s engineering honorary. Today, I live and move mostly as just another short white guy. To know me is to understand that I am the sum of all my years.<br /><br />To my mind, the experience of transgender people in the Church reveals a crack in our current practice. The church is invested first and foremost in the simulacra of heterosexuality. It upholds heteronormativity:<br /><br />•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>One is born male, grows up to be a man, adheres to masculine gender norms, sexually desires women, and exercises this desire in a monogamous, life long committed marriage, which takes as its aim the procreation of children.<br /><br />•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Or one is born a female, grows up to be a woman, adheres to feminine gender norms, sexually desires men, and exercises this desire in a monogamous, life long committed marriage, which takes as its aim the procreation of children.<br /><br />Currently access to Holy Matrimony in the BCP requires the outward and visible sign of heterosexuality. Our practice – and our theology for that matter—assumes a stable gender identity that corresponds with assigned birth sex. Neither our practices nor our theology account for the experiences of transgender people, particularly those who understand themselves as having a non-binary gender.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NLxczW-K4Kg/VY14OULUVmI/AAAAAAAAA4g/wa6mERkXtxE/s1600/ens_stanfordIain-435x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>Our current understanding of the human body in terms of sex, gender and sexuality has been shaped by various scientific, medical, and religious discourses over the last century or so. Terms like heterosexuality and its complement, homosexuality, emerge from the work of late 19th century sexologists like Havelock Ellis. &nbsp;These terms give us a new way of describing how humans desire; they do not invent those desires. Similarly, over the last several decades, we have new terms to describe how people live out their genders. &nbsp; <br /><br />It is time we live into the full acceptance of all gender identities and gender expressions. Marriage is not about body parts. I am here to testify to this as a fact. It is first and foremost a vocation (as "Christian Marriage As Vocation," essay two from the <a href="https://extranet.generalconvention.org/staff/files/download/12485.pdf">Task Force on Marriage report</a>, argues). It is a call from God for two people to join their lives in service to God, be that for the raising of children or for the uplift of all God’s creation.<br /><br />Let us not forget: there are married trans Episcopalians who already hold out a glimpse of full liturgical marriage equality to our Church, even as there are other trans Episcopalians newly unable to access it. Now is the time to make full liturgical marriage equality real for everyone.<br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div>Cameron Partridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730933611590305932noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-90246585191030958412015-06-23T23:12:00.000-04:002015-06-23T23:12:42.244-04:00Held in the Balance - the Revd Gwen Fry on General Convention<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-69FW7bUOplM/VYm-ScneKpI/AAAAAAAAA3A/TxMwdw7UTJw/s1600/TransEpiscopal%2BFB%2BBanner%2BPhoto.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="167" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-69FW7bUOplM/VYm-ScneKpI/AAAAAAAAA3A/TxMwdw7UTJw/s400/TransEpiscopal%2BFB%2BBanner%2BPhoto.png" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">by the Reverend Gwen Fry</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Every time I look at the photo with me in the background on the TransEpiscopaal Facebook page and blog I remember how important it was for me to be there at GC 2012. You see, at that time I wasn’t what you would call an active member of TransEpiscopal, working on important legislation or volunteering at the TransEpiscopal booth in the exhibition hall. No, I was more of a lurker on the list serve and had been for a number of years. I was there to track legislation, however, and I was there to attend a very special Eucharist. And as it turned out, I was there to attend the triennial family reunion of the church. I attended General Convention 2012 in Indianapolis for very personal reasons.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Having no responsibilities at the convention as a visitor I was free to go from house to house observing our church at work. The first day I was there I immediately took note of the gender neutral bathroom facility strategically placed between the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops. I know, you’re thinking bathrooms? But for me that was an incredible statement my church made. The church that I grew up in, in a very tangible way, supported me and all gender non-conforming children of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Sitting in the galleries of both houses listening to the discussion on resolutions D019 and D002 filled me with hope for my church. The bishops and deputies who stood up in support of these resolutions was a powerful witness to the broad, inclusive church I was proud to be a member of. Even those who stood in opposition of these resolutions filled me with hope because we are not a monolithic tradition here in The Episcopal Church. It reminded me that the tent is indeed big and it reminded me that even with these nondiscrimination clauses added to the canons, we have much work left to do to gain true acceptance throughout the church. As the votes were cast and tallied in both the House of Bishops and House of Deputies there was a deep sense of gratitude, joy, and acceptance that washed over me. It was quite surreal actually. With this monumental decision (at least in my eyes) the Episcopal Church gave me the “cover” I thought was necessary for me to come out and live authentically after 21 years as a priest in the church.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">The evening before I left the convention and headed for home, I attended the TransEpiscopal Eucharist. It was a perfect way to rejoice with others the incredible gains achieved at GC2012. It was also the first time I was in a room, worshipping with others, who knew me. Fully knew me. At that Eucharist I began a journey that brought me out of the shadows of lurking on a list <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1006145901968127634" name="_GoBack"></a>serve. I was no longer on the sidelines of my community and stepped onto the playing field, simply by being known. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">And so every time I see that banner across the top of TransEpiscopal’s blog or Facebook page with me standing in the background I am reminded of how far we have come as a church and how much I have grown. It hasn’t all been pretty or easy the past three years. There have been many losses and disappointments. There has also been resurrection and new life, in the church and personally. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Legislation is never antiseptic and removed from the lives of people. It is deeply personal and affects the lives of many whether we can see them or know them, understand them or even agree with them. Individuals like me are always held in the balance of the decisions we make as a church. Even as individuals like me are held in the balance by GC decisions, at the same time GC decisions do not necessarily prevent individuals from encountering difficulty. That experience certainly held true for me. It was most difficult to seek the dissolution of the pastoral relationship with a parish and people I deeply love and who loved me. We need to live into GC decisions, to engage and embrace them in our congregations and dioceses. What we do at GC truly does matter because of the connections between the layers of our church.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1AnPOwIaEqQ/VYm_r4e1pnI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/x7cYaKslVuA/s1600/Gwen%2BFry%2BHead%2BShot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1AnPOwIaEqQ/VYm_r4e1pnI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/x7cYaKslVuA/s200/Gwen%2BFry%2BHead%2BShot.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">I look forward to joining my colleagues and friends of TransEpiscopal in Salt Lake City to continue our work in the church. I am attending this General Convention because it is personal. Because there will be others attending this year who are just like I was three years ago, desperately looking for a place to call home, feel the support of their church, and experience the transforming power of the love of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Cameron Partridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730933611590305932noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-42387586785344318442015-06-23T16:10:00.000-04:002015-06-26T13:25:27.174-04:00Trans Legislation at the General Convention: From 2006-2012 and Beyond<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>As the 78th General Convention&nbsp;approaches this week, here is a brief review of trans legislation that has come before the Convention in years past. As you can see from the shift between 2006 and 2012, and as&nbsp;previous blog posts narrate, we have come an incredibly long way. The five resolutions listed under 2015 begin to point to much work that we still need to do.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2006&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp; &nbsp; </span></span></span><a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution-complete.pl?resolution=2006-C030">C030</a> -- The Diocese of California referred a resolution to General Convention calling for the addition of “gender identity and expression” to the list of non-discrimination demographic categories in Canon III.1.2. The Committee on Canons took it up as resolution C030 (“On the Topic of Amending Canon III.1.2 [Of the Ministry of All Baptized Persons]”). As the legislative history reports, the committee recommended discharge and re-referral to the Committee on Ministry. As far as we know, that referral never happened, or was never acted upon by the Committee on Ministry. As the legislative history reports, “Resolution Died With Adjournment.”</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The Diocese of New York passed a resolution calling on TEC to come out in support of fully gender inclusive secular civil rights resolution (e.g. ENDA) but it got lost in the shuffle and somehow was never considered at this GC.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2009<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=2009-D090">D090</a>— encouraged inclusive self-identification on all church forms, creating flexible options for people to identify their gender, names, and preferred pronouns. A question that lingered for us was the problem of amending registries and having certificates reissued (e.g. baptismal, confirmation or ordination) upon request after someone has changed their name (which is why a resolution addressing that has been submitted to GC 2015)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgibin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=2009-C048">C048</a> put TEC on record in support of a fully trans inclusive version of the Federal Employment Nondiscrimination Act&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=2009-D012">D012</a> put TEC on record in support of fully trans inclusive nondiscrimination and hate crimes laws at the local, state and federal levels&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution-complete.pl?resolution=2009-D032">D032</a> (Nondiscrimination protection for lay employees in TEC) – declared that lay employees in TEC are not to be discriminated against on the basis of several demographic designations, including gender identity and expression</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution-complete.pl?resolution=2009-C061">C061</a> Canon Change re: Access to the Ordination process passed the HOD but <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">failed</b> in HOB (HOB actually amended it and sent it back to HOD, which declined to concur)&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2012<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=2012-D002">D002</a> added “gender identity and expression” to Canon III.1.2 re: nondiscrimination in access to discernment for the ordination process&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution-complete.pl?resolution=2012-D019">D019</a> amended Canon I.17.5 (aka “the Rights of the Laity”), clarifying that “No one shall be denied rights, status or access to an equal place in the life, worship, and governance of this Church” on the basis of “gender identity and expression,” among a number of other demographic categories</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=2012-D022">D022</a> called for a church wide response to the epidemic of bullying based on a number of categories, including gender identity and expression <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2015</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp; &nbsp;</span></span></span><a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/D036/current_english_text">D036</a>&nbsp;"Adding Name Change Rite to the Book of Occasional Services”. This resolution calls upon the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (SCLM) to include the name change service from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Changes: Prayers and Services Honoring Rites of Passage</i> in its proposed comprehensive revision of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Book of Occasional Services</i> (BOS). The rite is adaptable for various life and circumstances, including the name changes of trans people.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://D037 Amending Names in Church Records, Registries, and Certificates">D037</a> “Amending Names in Church Records, Registries and Certificates”. This resolution requests a study with recommendations to be brought to the 79th General Convention regarding the pastoral need to allow church records and registries to be changed and certificates to be reissued to reflect a person’s new legal name. It calls for several groups to be consulted as part of this process, including transgender people.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/D028/current_english_text">D028</a> “Oppose Conversion Therapy”. This resolution seeks to put the 78th General Convention on record in support of legislation banning state-licensed therapists from engaging in scientifically discredited and dangerous practices that try to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.<br /><br />4) Addendum to Resolutions <a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/A073/current_english_text">A073</a> &amp; <a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/A074/current_english_text">A074</a>: these resolutions which call for an update of TEC's Model Policies &amp; Resources for the Prevention of Sexual Misconduct and Abuse of Youth and Children have received an <b>addendum</b> that "calls for the creation of inclusive policy and practices in regard to LGBTQ and gender variant individuals." As the Standing Commission on Lifelong Christian Formation &amp; Education's explanation goes on to say, "we would like to recommend that the 78th General Convention... call for the creation of model policies to support ministries that safeguard the dignity of our LGBTQ children, youth, participants, and leaders."<br /><br />5) <a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/2015-resolutions/A051/current_english_text">A051</a> "Support LGBT African Advocacy". This resolution, which went to hearing this morning (6/24), "encourage parishes, dioceses, especially those with companion relationships in Anglican Africa, as well as advocacy groups, to build relationships with African Anglican scholars and activists who are working to advance generous understandings of the Bible that affirm the dignity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people."</div>Cameron Partridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730933611590305932noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-87332372403786427102015-06-21T22:07:00.000-04:002015-06-22T11:18:26.922-04:00'Now is the Acceptable Time': The Work Before Us at General Convention<div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BBkRNV-1B3A/VYdy5pifLMI/AAAAAAAAA2k/XYzhkupH1Nc/s1600/Salt%2BPalace%2BAccord%2BArena.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BBkRNV-1B3A/VYdy5pifLMI/AAAAAAAAA2k/XYzhkupH1Nc/s320/Salt%2BPalace%2BAccord%2BArena.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>As we come to the 78th General Convention, TransEpiscopal looks forward to building on the major strides our Church has made over the last decade on behalf of trans people. We also come with a sense of urgency about the gaps that remain between what our Church has done and what remains to be done.</div><div class="MsoNormal">We celebrate tremendous legislative gains between the 2006 and 2012 General Conventions, particularly the addition of “gender identity and expression” to our canons for access to lay ministry and to the discernment process for ordained ministry. Those votes, as many of our blog posts from those Conventions have witnessed, were exhilarating to experience. We also celebrate the stories we hear and tell about congregations that lift up trans people across the church. We are lectors, greeters, Eucharistic ministers. We are in young adult and campus ministries. We serve on vestries and search committees. We serve on diocesan committees, as Deputies to General Convention, on nominating committees, on task forces. Several of us are ordained to the diaconate and the priesthood. Others are in various stages of the ordination process in several different dioceses. Some are in seminary.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Yet at the same time we also know that this progress is not uniformly felt across the Church. Different people in the same Church can have widely different experiences. This should not be the case.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.episcopalcafe.com/letter-to-the-editor-trans-people-are-just-another-group-of-gods-children/">Vivian Taylor’s letter to the editor of The Episcopal Café </a>underscores this truth in stories that are difficult to read and were undoubtedly more difficult to live through. Many of us have had such experiences over the years as well. They point to the gaps that exist between the legislative actions we have taken and the realities on the ground, which can be varied and far removed from one another. The challenge is to grow across that gap as a Church, indeed, as a family. This requires honest conversation—conversation that may well be painful along the way.&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal">Already, for several decades the Church has been having related conversations about different facets of our shared humanity—about women, about race, about sexuality, about economic inequality, about neo-colonialism, about the intersections of these facets of people’s experiences and lived identities. In all of this we have been doing a collective theology of the human person. Unpacking what it means to incorporate trans people is part of this ongoing conversation, and indeed it calls us, as Vivian put it, to “commit to move beyond honoring one or two trans heroes or thinking about your own gender to praying on and addressing the structural needs of trans people.” We consider the following realities crucial to engaging this conversation:&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>some trans people are binary-identified, that is, male or female, but</div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>some of us are not binary identified; we may identify as gender nonconforming or genderqueer, &nbsp; &nbsp; to use two of several related terms</div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>some of us have changed or wish to physically change our bodies</div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>some of us do not wish to physically change our bodies</div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>we have varying relationships to and abilities to access medical transition, that is, to physically change our bodies</div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>we, like cisgender people, have varying sexual orientations: we can be trans and heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual or queer</div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>trans women, as well as gender nonconforming people, are much more often the targets of anti-trans violence than trans men (see the 2011 study <a href="http://www.thetaskforce.org/static_html/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf">Injustice at Every Turn</a> for important stories and statistics regarding this)</div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>trans women are especially vulnerable when facing multiple points of discrimination from racism, sexism, classism, and/or immigration status, as well as transphobia. Thus far this year there have been eight transgender women or gender non conforming people of color who have been killed in the U.S. (see this story from the <a href="http://www.avp.org/resources/avp-resources/402-ncavp-mourns-the-death-of-london-chanel-a-transgender-woman-of-color-killed-in-philadelphia-pennsylvania-the-eighth-homicide-of-a-transgender-or-gender-non-conforming-person-of-color-that-ncavp-has-responded-to-in-2015-">Anti-Violence Projec</a>t)</div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>those of us who are trans women are routinely subjected to trans misogyny—a doubled form of misogyny- in which we encounter both the sexism associated with women assigned female at birth and another layer of stigma associated with having transitioned (see Julia Serrano’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Whipping-Girl-Transsexual-Scapegoating-Femininity/dp/1580051545"><i>Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininit</i>y</a> for more about this)</div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>an aspect of this trans misogyny: trans women are, as Vivian’s piece points out, frequently forced into double-binds. These often relate to appearance and demeanor: don’t fulfill feminine stereotypes, on the one hand, and don’t be too assertive, on the other. The former gets criticized as undermining efforts to dismantle patriarchal standards of femininity; the latter gets criticized as hold-over “male privilege.” These critiques disrespect and demean trans women.</div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>these double binds can be levied at trans women particularly in women’s spaces and by feminists who were formed or strongly influenced by theories of second wave (1970s and 80s) radical feminism. This type of feminism has more recently been referred to as “trans exclusionary radical feminism.”</div><div class="MsoNormal">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This pattern can be as true in church spaces as in secular spaces.</div><div class="MsoNormal">We would also like to underscore that this is an especially difficult season for trans people both in and outside our Church. The unprecedented visibility of trans people in the media over the past year, particularly over the last few months since Caitlyn Jenner came out, has created arenas of serious backlash. The recent Elinor Burkett piece in the New York Times (which activated several of the last bullet points above), followed by horribly transmisogynistic tweets from Anne Lamott, a trusted source of wisdom, have added to a sense of vulnerability, of unsafety, particularly for trans women. Vivian’s comment about trans people not feeling “allowed to settle here, to make a home and put down roots,” speaks to a sense of precariousness that has intensified for many of us in recent weeks and months.</div><div class="MsoNormal">This week at General Convention TransEpiscopal will be supporting several resolutions, two of which speak specifically to this desire to make a home and put down roots in our beloved Church. One resolution (whose number is pending) will ask for the proposed revision of the Book of Occasional Services to include a name change liturgy. The other (also with a pending number) will call for a study of the canons to address the pastoral need to amend legal name changes in church registries and to reissue church certificates—baptismal, confirmation, or ordination certificates, for instance – when it is requested. In the case of the first resolution, what is at stake is the Church’s affirmation of trans people’s chosen names, recognizing our names in the midst of our congregations as icons of our spiritual journeys. The second resolution seeks to prompt a study whose purpose is ultimately to safeguard trans people’s privacy, to assure that, should one not wish to disclose one’s previous name, the Church will respect that wish, doing all it can to facilitate our freedom to make our way in the Church.</div><div class="MsoNormal">As we think, pray, and talk about these matters coming into General Convention, we look forward to open, clarifying, supportive conversations. Engaging in such conversations both at GC and in your own dioceses and congregations is one concrete thing you can do to support the trans people in TEC. Another is to support this legislation, to work to make it and the changes we have already made in our Church concrete, structurally real in your own contexts. We are inspired by today’s passage from 2 Corinthians 6: “now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!” (6:2) And as it concludes, “our heart is wide open to you… open wide your hearts also” (6:11,13).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>For the TransEpiscopal Steering Committee:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Donna Cartwright<br />Gwen Fry<br />Gari Green<br />Andrew/Amanda Leigh-Bullard<br />Mycroft Masada<br />Kori Pacyniak<br />Cameron Partridge<br />Iain Stanford</div><div><br /></div>Cameron Partridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730933611590305932noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-68015812230186789192015-06-11T16:10:00.000-04:002015-06-11T16:12:20.896-04:00Emerging Voices: TransEpiscopal at the 2009 General Convention<div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This post forms the second in a series about the history of TransEpiscopal’s legislative efforts at the General Convention of The Episcopal Church, as we head to the 78<sup>th</sup>General Convention at the end of June. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dTIGaSce7_s/VXnmB7h3tcI/AAAAAAAAA00/5H8xQPMjKew/s1600/Dante%2BTesifying%2Bin%2B2009%2B3%2Bcopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dTIGaSce7_s/VXnmB7h3tcI/AAAAAAAAA00/5H8xQPMjKew/s320/Dante%2BTesifying%2Bin%2B2009%2B3%2Bcopy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">After our first effort at GC legislative advocacy in 2006 (described <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2015/06/lost-and-found-transepiscopal-at-2006.html">here</a>) we realized that we needed to bring a team. We also experienced the power of working in coalition. In 2007 <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2007/03/transgender-episcopalians-form.html">we had become members</a> of <a href="http://www.theconsultation.org/">the Consultation</a>, “a collaboration of progressive organizations within the Episcopal Church that partner to work for social justice.” Even as we attended GC with our own focus, we also collaborated with the nine other member groups of the Consultation. The key to TransEpiscopal’s work lay not in lifting up any one particular voice or having any one specific spokesperson, but rather in operating collectively and intersectionally. We chose to work this way out of respect for the varied experiences and identities within our own communities and in recognition that we are not alone in being impacted by oppressive social structures. Thus far we have emphasized collegiality, respect, shared resources, variously offered gifts and talents, and collective determination. TransEpiscopal has never had a president, has never had elected positions. Perhaps someday a different structure will make more sense for us. Perhaps not. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K2ltQzNgRMs/VXnkzOmc1SI/AAAAAAAAA0g/820YaKbZ7vU/s1600/TransEpiscopal%2Bat%2B2009%2BGC%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K2ltQzNgRMs/VXnkzOmc1SI/AAAAAAAAA0g/820YaKbZ7vU/s320/TransEpiscopal%2Bat%2B2009%2BGC%2Bcopy.jpg" width="320" /></a>Coming into the 76<sup>th</sup> General Convention in Anaheim, we were expecting four transgender-themed resolutions amid a much greater number related to liturgical blessings for same sex couples and overturning the (ambiguous) moratorium on openly gay bishops. Some of our targeted resolutions sought to put the Episcopal Church on record in support of secular transgender nondiscrimination legislation, while others sought to amend our own canons in support of trans equality within TEC. Never before had a group of trans Episcopalians organized ourselves to testify at the committee hearings to where these resolutions had been directed. Never before had there been an openly trans Deputy to General Convention, which we gained in Dante Tavolaro of Rhode Island. With growing excitement, we made our way through Convention. To get a flavor for our energy, see<a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2009/07/two-hearings-in-twelve-hours.html">&nbsp;this early blog post</a>&nbsp;about the intense opening days of Convention or this one in which I raced&nbsp;<a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2009/07/up-down-escalators.html">up and down the escalators</a>&nbsp;between the House of Bishops and Deputies meetings;&nbsp;<a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2009/07/tavolaro-testimony-on-c061.html">this testimony from Dante</a>&nbsp;Tavolaro from the floor of the House of Deputies; this&nbsp;<a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2009/07/mixed-emotions.html">progress report from Michelle Hansen</a>; this recorded testimony from&nbsp;<a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2009/07/difficult-blessing.html">Gari Green</a>&nbsp;or from&nbsp;<a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2009/07/testimony.html">Vicki Gray</a>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">After all was said and done, the 2009 General Convention passed four trans-themed resolutions: </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=2009-D090">D090 </a>encouraged inclusive self-identification on all church forms, calling for flexible options to identify gender, names, and preferred pronouns.&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgibin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=2009-C048">C048</a> put TEC on record in support of a fully trans inclusive version of the Federal Employment Nondiscrimination Act&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=2009-D012">D012</a> put TEC on record in support of fully trans inclusive nondiscrimination and hate crimes laws at the local, state and federal levels</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4)<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution-complete.pl?resolution=2009-D032">D032</a> declared that lay employees in TEC are not to be discriminated against on the basis of several demographic designations, including gender identity and expression.&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">There was one resolution that did not pass in 2009, or at least not in both Houses of the Convention. Resolution C061 sought to do what C030 had targeted in 2006: to add “gender identity and expression” to Canon III.1.2, prohibiting discrimination on this basis in access to the ordination process. While the 2006 attempt never made it out of Committee, this time it did. It was debated on the floor of the House of Deputies and <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2009/07/round-one-results-are-in.html">was sent to theHouse of Bishops once it passed</a>. Among the bishops, however, there was an attempt to eliminate all of the specific nondiscrimination language in the canon, substituting the word “all”. You can read about this turn of events <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2009/07/this-is-important.html">here</a>. The archival legislation history can be found <a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution-complete.pl?resolution=2009-C061">here</a>.&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HyL3nJEGQlk/VXnpTRzjC5I/AAAAAAAAA1I/uvKuR6xiFqA/s1600/CP%2BTom%2BShaw%2BBarbara%2BDonna%2B%2526%2BShell%2Bat%2BGC%2B2009%2Bcopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HyL3nJEGQlk/VXnpTRzjC5I/AAAAAAAAA1I/uvKuR6xiFqA/s320/CP%2BTom%2BShaw%2BBarbara%2BDonna%2B%2526%2BShell%2Bat%2BGC%2B2009%2Bcopy.JPG" width="320" /></a>While we were disappointed at this outcome, we were determined to help bring this legislation back in 2012, in part because of how buoyed we were by all the progress made at this Convention—trans specific legislation as well as the overturning of B033 and the call for liturgical material to bless same sex couples.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">We had come into the 2009 GC <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2009/06/narrating-transgender-presence-at.html">wondering</a> “how our presence [would] be received,” particularly in “communications about the Convention,” and how “transgender people and concerns” might or might not be incorporated “into well-entrenched narratives about the debates of the Episcopal Church.” </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">We left Convention with then President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson as well as Bishop J. Jon Bruno of Los Angeles speaking about trans people in <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2009/07/concluding-press-conference-comments-on.html">the concluding press conference</a>:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">“<i>Rt. Rev. Jon Bruno:</i> Well, transgender people are part of the congregations in this diocese, and they’re part of the world community. And it’s a good thing that we’re dealing with this openly. We need to talk about the fact that humanity is different wherever you go, and that we are all called to be loved as children of God, and dealt with, with equity and love.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">“<i>Dr. Bonnie Anderson:</i> Let me just add that in the House of Deputies we had testimony from transgender persons. It was very moving. It was very well received in the House of Deputies. I believe that it helped us to see and learn about that particular way of being. We welcomed that and did pass resolutions to include all people, including transgender persons.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--><br /><div class="MsoNormal">We had traveled a good deal from the illegible, barely traceable remnants of our legislative efforts in 2006. Working collaboratively and gathering new friends along the way, we had made unexpected, remarkable progress in 2009. None of this meant that there weren’t and aren’t still major gaps—gaps in which trans people continue to experience significant difficulty in the church and in the world. Stay tuned for more on both the further progress made in 2012 and gaps that remain to be engaged and transformed….<br /><br />CP</div>Cameron Partridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730933611590305932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-984310514630696022015-06-02T16:13:00.002-04:002015-06-02T16:15:10.814-04:00Lost and Found: TransEpiscopal at the 2006 General Convention<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">TransEpiscopal looks forward to being at the 78<sup>th</sup>triennial General Convention of The Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City June 25-July 3. There, as in the past several years, we aim to collaborate with several groups and individuals to continue being agents of transformation in and through the Episcopal Church, that trans folks – and indeed all people-- &nbsp;might be empowered in and by this Church to be the people God is calling us to become. Already we have come a very long way, even as significant work remains to be done.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">As we turn toward Salt Lake City, we wanted to take a moment—a few posts—to recall the history of TransEpiscopal’s legislative advocacy at GC. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">TransEpiscopal’s first such effort was about a year after our founding, in 2006 at the 75<sup>th</sup> Convention in Columbus, Ohio. This was an especially intense, emotional Convention. The House of Bishops elected The Episcopal Church’s first ever woman Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori. The Convention rejected a resolution that intended to place a moratorium on openly gay bishops, three years after Bishop Gene Robinson had been consecrated in New Hampshire (A161&nbsp;<a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution-complete.pl?resolution=2006-A161" target="_blank">which can be found here</a>). And then, not long after that rejection, the Convention <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">passed</i> a slightly different version of that resolution (B033) which essentially sought to do the same thing with vaguer language (which was later essentially overturned at the GC of 2009). The GC of 2006 was incredibly difficult, especially for LGBT people. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Amid all this, there wasn’t much awareness of or advocacy for trans people in The Episcopal Church or, really, much specific language to help name our experiences and identities. Take, for instance, the difficulty of even locating a digital record of the one resolution touching on trans people in the life of the church that did, in fact, come before the 2006 General Convention: resolution C030. This resolution, which originated in the Diocese of California, sought to do what the 77<sup>th</sup> General Convention eventually did in 2012: to add “gender identity and expression” to the nondiscrimination language in Canon III.1.2, on access to the discernment process toward ordained ministry. You can find its legislative record <a href="http://c030/" target="_blank">here</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Here is an image of it as well. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R8IrGMtaQW0/VW4Nl6nN0zI/AAAAAAAACtg/1ysxA-DqkVg/s1600/GC2006-C030%2BCanon%2BChange%2BRejected.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R8IrGMtaQW0/VW4Nl6nN0zI/AAAAAAAACtg/1ysxA-DqkVg/s400/GC2006-C030%2BCanon%2BChange%2BRejected.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Once recognized by the General Convention, and given a number (C030), the resolution got referred to the Committee on Canons. When that committee held a hearing on this and its other resolutions, TransEpiscopal’s founding member Donna Cartwright testified in its support. Donna had driven on her own to General Convention and was a lone voice speaking out in support of this resolution. As the legislative history reports, the committee ultimately “presented its Report #14 on Resolution C030 (Amend Canons: Title III, Canon 1, Section 2) recommending discharge, and re-referral of the resolution to the Committee on Ministry.” This decision was communicated to the House of Bishops. But this sentence really tells the story: “Resolution Died With Adjournment.” Or better, as the abstract of C030 puts it, “The 75th General Convention rejects a resolution to amend Canon III.1.2 regarding access to the discernment process.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The funny thing about this is that for years several of us have been trying to locate a digital record—or, really, any official record—of this experience that Donna Cartwright had shared with us as it was happening. It felt important, a kind of signpost saying <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we were there</i>. But none of the key terms – words like “transgender” or “gender identity” or even just “gender” – were generating anything in the digital archives. What ultimately <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">did</i>lead to its location, finally, was an <a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_search.pl" target="_blank">advanced search</a>&nbsp;targeting the year 2006 and typing the word “rejected” under “Action taken.” Among the sixty-six other rejected resolutions, C030 was easy to pick out. In other posts, narrating other encounters at later GCs, we have commented on the <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2009/07/naming-naming-is-very-important.html" target="_blank">importance of naming, of specificity</a>. Without that naming, even as language can still so often fall short, it can be easy to lose traces of our histories, to forget aspects of our journey. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> 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mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--><br /><div class="MsoNormal">But, in the person of Donna, we were indeed there, and we knew we needed to return in greater numbers. And so, in 2009, we did…. <o:p></o:p></div>Kori Pacyniakhttps://plus.google.com/114372455228618247134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-48835026497469909252015-05-22T22:44:00.000-04:002015-05-22T22:44:10.499-04:00Transepiscopal at General Convention 2015 <style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Garamond; panose-1:2 2 4 4 3 3 1 1 8 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:11.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --></style> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Just before the Feast of the Ascension, May 14<sup>th</sup> this year, there were three days called “Rogation Days” that are special days of fasting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The word Rogation is Latin and means “Asking”, so these are days of Asking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They are a remnant of a time when our lives were far more agricultural.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Prayers were said for the success of the new crops, most of which had just been planted.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jesus also talks about planting, but his planting is a metaphor for instilling new faith in a “fertile” people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>TransEpiscopal is an organization of Episcopalians who seek to help the planting of the Christian Faith among the Trans population along with acceptance, education and greater inclusion of Trans individuals within the life of the Episcopal Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Many who are Trans have been systematically rejected from their traditional faith homes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We strive to create a more accepting and friendly space for them in the Episcopal Church.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To do this we have over the past 10 years worked to “plant” the seed of faith and to promote an accepting, understanding and welcoming faith community within the Episcopal Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>To this end we had delegations at the 2009 and 2012 General Conventions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Legislation was proposed and for the most part passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Thus saying, the job is not yet completed and we intend to have yet another presence at the 2015 General Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah (this June and July.) For the most part, the TransEpiscopal delegation members are some of the “fruits” of past “planting.” They will educate, promote legislation and make personal bonds with the leaders of the Episcopal Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They will pray and worship with the Convention.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We cannot accomplish this great task of ministry to the Church without help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We hope that you will be able and want to help with this “planting” by making a contribution to the effort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Any contribution, large or small, will accomplish a great deal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It will help with the expenses of the General Convention and it will make <b><i>you</i></b> a part of our Ministry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Please pray for us and, if you can, contribute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>There is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Donate</i> button to the left of this page to make a contribution using PayPal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>A PayPal account is not necessary. Please note that the contribution is for “TransEpiscopal.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If you prefer to send a check, </span><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">you can mail a check made out to our fiscal sponsor, Integrity USA-- just be sure to put TransEpiscopal in the memo line, then mail to:<br /><br />770 Massachusetts Ave #390170<br />Cambridge, MA 02139 &nbsp; USA</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">We thank you for your interest, your support and for your prayers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Blessings!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Donna Cartwright<br />The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge<br />The Rev. Gari Green</span></div><br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00729368536391711377noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-29620988361287740382015-03-16T10:55:00.000-04:002015-03-16T10:55:57.180-04:00Statement on Integrity's Reduction of ForceTransEpiscopal is saddened by the <a href="http://walkingwithintegrity.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">news</a> that Vivian Taylor and Samuel Peterson, the two full time employees of <a href="http://www.integrityusa.org/" target="_blank">IntegrityUSA</a>, have been let go due to a <a href="http://walkingwithintegrity.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">reduction of workforce</a>. Taylor served as Integrity’s Executive Director from 2013-2015, and Peterson came on as Director of Development several months after Taylor began.<br /><br />TransEpiscopal honors their pioneering ministries and contributions to furthering The Episcopal Church’s witness to God’s love for LGBTQ persons. Integrity announced Vivian Taylor on August 6, 2013 as “the first openly transgender woman to lead a major mainline protestant denominational organization in the US.” Taylor is a creative, charismatic leader who brought strong gifts in communications, entrepreneurialism and organization building. She recruited a powerful group of writers for Integrity’s blog and contributed her own moving posts. She also continued the spirit of collaboration that developed between Integrity and TransEpiscopal in the years after our founding in 2005.<br /><br />In addition to his work as Development Director, Sam Peterson contributed to the Walking with Integrity blog, including two recent incisive pieces. One was <a href="http://walkingwithintegrity.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-unfailing-love-of-pauli-murray.html" target="_blank">about the Reverend Pauli Murray</a>, a person of complex gender history who was the first African American woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest. The <a href="http://www.thetaskforce.org/get-trained/trans-leadership-exchange.html" target="_blank">other piece</a>, on the Task Force’s Creating Change conference, emerged from the honor of Peterson’s membership in the Task Force’s “2015 Trans Leadership Exchange.”<br /><br />As Taylor noted after one of her early visits to Integrity chapters across the United States, “<a href="http://walkingwithintegrity.blogspot.com/2013/10/around-church-in-15-days.html" target="_blank">the real power and energy of Integrity is in the people…Speaking with people about their own lives and experiences is an absolute treasure trove</a>.”In that same spirit, we lift up and celebrate the power and energy of the unique humanity that Taylor and Peterson have brought to Integrity and far beyond. We recognize the significance of having had two openly trans people as the only full time employees in The Episcopal Church’s main LGBTQ+ advocacy organization. We are incredibly proud of them.<br /><br />We are also disheartened at the financial strain that so often besets churches and other organizations that work for peace and justice. Unaware that Integrity’s own finances had reached such a critical juncture, we were surprised to learn of the decision to let these talented leaders go. We grieve that the financial hardship that Peterson and Taylor now personally face is one <a href="http://www.thetaskforce.org/static_html/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf" target="_blank">shared by trans people in staggering numbers across the United States</a>.<br /><br />Bringing to light the continued, multi-pronged broader pattern of vulnerability in trans communities is a key part of <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2015/02/transepiscopal-general-convention-appeal.html" target="_blank">the witness that TransEpiscopal plans to bring to the 78th General Convention thisJune</a>.<br /><br />In light of our shared ministries as we head to into General Convention, we call upon the Integrity Board to recognize and respond to the deep pastoral impact this decision is having upon trans people in and beyond The Episcopal Church. We seek and invite a relationship of greater transparency and clearer communication. We look forward to reclaiming the trust that grounds our shared ministries to make explicit God’s love for LGBTQ persons. Kori Pacyniakhttps://plus.google.com/114372455228618247134noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-13583877104476786022015-02-18T10:41:00.000-05:002015-02-18T10:41:35.730-05:00TransEpiscopal General Convention AppealDear friends and members of TransEpiscopal:<br /><br />In the 10 years since TransEpiscopal was founded, we’ve compiled an impressive record of achievement, and that record is all the more remarkable because we have accomplished much with little in the way of resources.<br /><br />At General Convention in 2009, we won passage of resolutions supporting secular civil rights legislation for trans and gender non-conforming people, nondiscrimination in lay hiring, and adoption of a commitment to make forms throughout the church more trans-friendly.<br /><br />Building on this momentum with the strong support of our coalition partners (particularly <a href="http://integrityusa.org/" target="_blank">IntegrityUSA</a> which produced the film Voices of Witness Out of the Box), the GC of 2012 acted to add gender identity/expression to its canons prohibiting discrimination in access to the ordination process and in the rights of the laity. These were tremendous victories that truly put The Episcopal Church on the map as a denomination that recognizes the place and leadership of trans people in all aspects of its life.<br /><br />Yet as we continue living into these transformative decisions, it could not be clearer that our work is far from finished. As General Convention 2015 approaches, TransEpiscopal plans a strong witness to:<br /><br /><ol><li>Recommit the church to transforming the unjust structures that continue to kill trans people. As of this writing – mid February, 2015 – we have already lost six trans women of color in the U.S. so far this year alone. One of them, Taja DeJesus, was part of the Grace Cathedral community in the Diocese of California. Living into our church’s collective decisions means deepening our commitment to transform the unjust, intersectional structures of transphobia, racism, homophobia, misogyny and classism—structures that are literally lethal.<br /></li><li>Support trans youth and their families. As Leelah Alcorn’s suicide so strongly revealed this year, for trans identified young people, coming out can be a particular struggle. For trans youth and for their families, a supportive, non-judgmental church community can be literally life saving.<br /></li><li>Support non-binary identified trans people. Many trans people – particularly trans youth and young adults – do not understand ourselves to be straightforwardly male or female. Many decide not to medically transition. Many use pronouns other than he/she. Welcoming and lifting up the leadership of trans people means honoring this complexity and ambiguity, and offering emotional, spiritual, and practical support for navigating a binary world.&nbsp;</li></ol>This work will require developing and producing educational materials for use at convention, as well as defraying the cost of attending convention for TransEpiscopal volunteers. As in past years, we will be proud to work with our allies, The Consultation, Integrity-USA, and The Chicago Consultation. None of our victories could have happened without the collegiality and community of these coalitions.<br /><br />And none of it could have happened without your support.<br /><br />A gift of $50, $100, $250 or $500 will make a crucial difference in our capacity to change hearts and minds this summer. Please go to the TransEpiscopal web page at <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/">http://blog.transepiscopal.com/</a>, look for the “donate” button on the left side, and give what you can. Alternately, you can mail a check made out to our fiscal sponsor, Integrity USA-- just be sure to put TransEpiscopal in the memo line, then mail to:<br /><br />770 Massachusetts Ave #390170<br />Cambridge, MA 02139 &nbsp; USA<br /><br />Faithfully,<br /><br />Donna Cartwright<br />The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge<br />The Rev. Gari GreenKori Pacyniakhttps://plus.google.com/114372455228618247134noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-56395890396626632742014-09-18T16:44:00.001-04:002014-09-20T23:00:59.652-04:00Voila! (one parish's rapidly achieved, relatively low key, and profound
sign of welcome)<div class="MsoNormal">“Do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> have a gender neutral bathroom?”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-whYMPEgAueo/VBtAyjSKWZI/AAAAAAAAAx8/FWjQ1V9zSrU/s1600/Fayette%2Bgender%2Bneutral%2Bbathroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-whYMPEgAueo/VBtAyjSKWZI/AAAAAAAAAx8/FWjQ1V9zSrU/s1600/Fayette%2Bgender%2Bneutral%2Bbathroom.jpg" height="320" width="240"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the new gender neutral restroom at <br><a href="http://www.stpaulsoregon.org/">St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Salem, OR</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">“No, though there is the ADA-accessible bathroom by the sacristy.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">“Well, can we make that a gender neutral bathroom?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Can we order a sign this week?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If that’s what people need to feel safe, then that’s what we need to have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>And we need to advertise it.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">And voila.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Salem, OR, was going to have a gender neutral bathroom in order to make sure trans folks knew they were welcome in the space. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">How did we get here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Let’s back up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">I am one of two interim priests serving this good-sized parish in the capitol of Oregon, known throughout the state for the excellence of its music programs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Worship is traditional, and conversation is lively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The Very Rev. Lin Knight serves as interim rector.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>He asked me to serve as associate beginning January of this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I asked him if St. Paul’s was ready for a 34-year-old tattooed lesbian priest, and he laughed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I heard later he sold me to the staff as a “perky blonde.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">Lin had served St. Paul’s nearly a decade ago as interim as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>During this time, the Oregon Supreme Court ratified its Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), prohibiting same-sex marriages in the state of Oregon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Since St. Paul’s is in the capitol city, and since the Episcopalians had been getting a lot of press about the election of Bishop Gene Robinson, the paper called Lin to get a statement about this decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>He told them that he believed the church should be in the business of strengthening all committed relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Well, I wasn’t here, but I heard this caused quite the kerfuffle.&nbsp;&nbsp;Letters were flying. The senior warden asked that Lin make a public apology and state that he was speaking for himself only, and not the church.&nbsp;&nbsp;The parking lot was on fire with chatter.&nbsp;Lin held the center with his signature grace, and eventually the parish calmed down, with many coming to him to thank him quietly for his words.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">By the time I arrived, the church had settled into the place where I think many – if not most – Episcopal churches stand today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Generally, most parishioners support full inclusion of cisgender gay and lesbian worshippers and clergy, and support efforts for full civil rights for GLBTQ folks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They are stronger in understanding cis gay and lesbian issues than trans issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They are proud of being able to worship with people who may not be fully accepting of gay and lesbian people as well.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">I was warmly welcomed and started the fun part of being an interim, which is getting to shake things up a little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>On occasion, I have been accused of preaching a “political” sermon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>(As has Lin.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We’ve both been curious about this word, which is used primarily in the church as shorthand for, “What you are talking about makes me uncomfortable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Please stop talking about it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It’s a silencing tactic rather than a meaningful<a href="" name="_GoBack"></a> adjective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We thought we could explore that term in a non-defensive, open way over the summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We moved to a summer schedule and left an hour open before services for people to come in and have informal conversation about “political” topics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We covered Israel and Palestine, Ferguson, immigration, climate change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>And for three weeks, we talked about sex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4n0AnFrUvTk/VBtAyoMspFI/AAAAAAAAAx4/PVhYT-8Hi88/s1600/Fayette%2Bwhite%2Bboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4n0AnFrUvTk/VBtAyoMspFI/AAAAAAAAAx4/PVhYT-8Hi88/s1600/Fayette%2Bwhite%2Bboard.jpg" height="240" width="320"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the whiteboard<br>(note: the term 'transvestite' is crossed out <br>because it is now considered derogatory)&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">In one of those sessions, I did the world’s fastest Queer/Trans 101.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We defined terms, and moved quickly into talking about “queer” and “trans” as umbrella terms for a variety of identities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>(Many of them grew up hearing “queer” as a slur, and were very hesitant asking about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I said to not use it if it still carried negative connotations for them, but also explained how we need a word for, really, “everyone who gets beat up” as a result of sexual or gender identity.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I made sure they knew that the vast majority of violence against queer folks happens to trans women of color.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><br><br>The white board with all the notes from this quick overview was left up all week, in the main meeting room of the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>All the regular groups who meet there saw it, and it provoked a good deal of discussion on its own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>At staff meeting, on Wednesday, the parish administrator said that she had heard lots of people talking about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>A few staff members chimed in and said they were curious, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I volunteered to answer any questions they might have, and off we went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Eventually the conversation turned to welcoming queer folks at St. Paul’s, and we arrived at the conversation at the beginning of this post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I had mentioned that one of the most contested issues for trans people is bathrooms, and our liturgical co-ordinator asked the opening question of this post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">And there we were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>That part of staff meeting – from “So people have been noticing the white board…” to ordering a sign for the bathroom – took approximately ten minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>No mess, no months of agonized debate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">Here’s what I think led to this easy ten-minute no-struggle conversation: </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">1. Calm clergy leadership, relaxed and committed to their values</div><div class="MsoNormal">2. Thoughtful, inquisitive adult faith formation unafraid of difficult topics</div><div class="MsoNormal">3. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Most importantly</b>, the laity’s absolute commitment to good manners and intentional welcome, even in a new situation where not everyone understands what the issues are</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">I think we forget about manners in the conversation about justice a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Give me<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>staunch Christians with good home training any day when we’re faced with questions about how to be places of radical welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>By “manners” I mean that quality of a well-trained hostess, whose first priority is ensuring that her guests are comfortable and having a good time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>She may not appreciate someone’s taste, or personality, but as long as they are in her house, they will be made comfortable to the best of her ability. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>It means the basic willingness to put another person’s needs before your own. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>The St. Paul’s staff was still learning basic language and many of them have never knowingly met a trans person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>And yet – their number one concern was that people feel welcome in the space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>No questions on that front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>This is what someone needs to feel safe here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We will provide it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--><br><div class="MsoNormal">This is the best of who we can be.&nbsp; And on one sunny, sleepy, summer afternoon in Oregon, it meant a shift toward wholeness, and grace, for one community.&nbsp; It meant marking one more little plot of land in this vast world as safe, as home.&nbsp;</div><br><i>The Reverend Shelly Fayette, formerly the Interim Associate Rector of <a href="http://www.stpaulsoregon.org/">St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Salem</a>, Oregon, is <a href="http://www.christchurchseattle.org/14GNB0727w.pdf">the new Rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Seattle, WA</a>. &nbsp;Congratulations, Shelly!&nbsp;</i><br> Cameron Partridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730933611590305932noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-44445913853331714412014-04-02T14:21:00.000-04:002014-04-02T14:21:06.460-04:00Moving our work to the next levelDear Friends:<br /><br />In the last seven years, <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/" target="_blank">TransEpiscopal</a>&nbsp;has achieved a number of remarkable successes. We have supported trans people throughout <a href="http://episcopalchurch.org/" target="_blank">The Episcopal Church</a>, brought trans people into the foreground of the church’s national conversation, built strong alliances with other progressive groups both within The Episcopal Church and in other denominations, and driven the passage of pro-transgender legislation at two General Conventions and in a number of diocesan conventions.<br /><br />We have achieved all of this while remaining a small, informal, unincorporated organization without officers or formal rules. Our ability to do this has depended on the generosity of our members and friends, who have given unstintingly of their time, talent and treasure to keep us going.<br /><br />We are now at a moment when we need to start building the material foundation that will hopefully take us to the next level. We currently have a few hundred dollars in our account with Integrity; against that, we owe $800 in dues to the Consultation, the umbrella group of progressive Episcopal organizations, covering last year as well as 2014. Beyond that, General Convention 2015 is only about 15 months away, and we still have much to do.<br /><br /><br /><ul><li>We need to encourage the church to fully assimilate and internalize the measures that it has already passed, particularly concerning nondiscrimination in access to ordained ministry and in the rights of the laity;&nbsp;</li></ul><ul><li>We need to familiarize the church with non-binary gender identities, and help church leaders understand and welcome genderqueer people;&nbsp;</li></ul><ul><li>We need to persuade the church to drop transgender health insurance exclusions for clergy and other employees, which remain a substantial barrier to trans people’s full participation in the life of the church;&nbsp;</li></ul><ul><li>We need to help develop liturgy that will celebrate the experience of trans people.&nbsp;</li></ul><br /><br />To do all this, we need to start rebuilding our finances soon and so we're asking for your help. Please go to TransEpiscopal’s Web site, http://blog.transepiscopal.com, look for the <a href="https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&amp;SESSION=Q6jvt3IifVw-V8rlK6-Y_-e1AV_funlvlaBhEtIothRCjDMdjLpFnpcFk1C&amp;dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8d8cdcf517b037b4502f6cc98f1ee6e5fb" target="_blank">donate button</a> on the left side of the page, and make a contribution.<br /><br />With your help, TransEpiscopal can continue to do God’s work.<br /><br />Donna Cartwright<br />Co-convenor<br />TransEpiscopalKori Pacyniakhttps://plus.google.com/114372455228618247134noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-76388866867386016382014-03-03T20:02:00.001-05:002014-03-03T20:02:30.452-05:00Transfiguration & Transformation: to repair with gold<i>Sharing a sermon preached by one of our members, Kori Pacyniak for Transfiguration Sunday / Last Sunday of the Epiphany. Preached on Wednesday, 26 February 2014 at Diocesan House, Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.</i><br /><br /><i></i> Readings:<br />[<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Epiphany/AEpiLast_RCL.html#OLDTEST">Exodus 24:12-18</a>]<br /><a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Epiphany/AEpiLast_RCL.html#EPISTLE">2 Peter 1:16-21</a><br /><a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Epiphany/AEpiLast_RCL.html#GOSPEL">Matthew 17:1-9</a><br /><br />&nbsp;As Episcopalians, we’re fortunate enough to get to celebrate the Transfiguration twice in our liturgical year - once on the last Sunday before Lent, often known as Transfiguration Sunday, and then again on August 6, the Feast of the Transfiguration. &nbsp;It’s nice today to think about August – about long summer days and even sweltering heat as we feel the brunt of another ‘polar vortex’, but there is something peculiar, and special about Transfiguration Sunday.<br /><br />Today’s transfiguration comes at the end of the season of the epiphany, at the end of a long and particularly arduous winter, on the threshold of lent. This year, Christmas and Epiphany seem like long forgotten memories, buried under the snow and ice that have been a near constant presence. There is a hope that spring lurks just around a corner, but on a day like today, spring shows no sign of hurrying. Liturgically, we are at a threshold, or, as <a href="http://peculiar-honors.blogspot.com/">one of my priests calls it,</a> a hinge day. A hinge between the seasons of epiphany and lent, but more than that, a hinge between heaven and earth. That’s what we glimpse at the transfiguration, a disruption of the norm and a supernatural event that causes fear in the disciples.<br /><br />&nbsp;In the icons of the transfiguration, Jesus is usually depicted standing between Moses and Elijah, enshrined in gold and light on the mountaintop with rays of light emanating force, piercing the disciples. In contrast, Peter, James and John are shown lying down or with their faces turned away. We glimpse a moment of liminal space, a moment of transition and transformation and we become acutely aware that something is happening. Something is happening and we are invited to be transformed.<br /><br />&nbsp;In the first reading, we are called to be attentive to the prophetic message, “as a lamp shining in a dark place” until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts. There is a feeling of waiting, of expectation, of hope in spite of the darkness. Peter, James, and John needed this hope. Six days earlier, Jesus had told his disciples that he would be handed over to the chief priests, killed and raised up on the third day. Difficult news for anyone to swallow. It is not difficult to imagine the sort of darkness the disciples were living in – having to come to grips with the revelation that their beloved teacher would be taken from them and killed. At the same time Jesus was asking them to take up their cross and follow him. We can imagine the feelings of fear, hopelessness, betrayal…through this, Jesus asks his disciples for acceptance of what is to come.<br /><br />&nbsp;And now, Jesus takes Peter, James and John with him up on a mountain, apart from the others and is transfigured before them – as if they didn’t have enough to deal with. But this clearly supernatural event only gets better. Out of nowhere, Moses and Elijah appear, talking with Jesus and then a voice emerges from the heavens, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him.” The disciples naturally fall to the ground in fear and it is Jesus who rouses them, reassuring them and telling them to not be afraid. It might not be only fear that causes the disciples to fall down and turn away, but the knowledge and awareness that they are participating in something greater, something beyond their wildest imagination. They know they are being invited into transformation.<br /><br />&nbsp;Who are these words from heaven for? In the disciples, they seem to cause more fear than anything. Perhaps it is Jesus himself who needs to hear these words, this reassurance of his father’s love, of approval, of his mission. Despite the supernatural nature of the transfiguration, perhaps this is a moment where we see Jesus’ humanity bleed through. Aware of the task before him, the difficulty of accepting what he is called to do, he takes some of his friends and goes up on a mountaintop to pray. And what is the result? Two of prophets come to speak with him and his father’s voice booming from the heavens.&nbsp; <br /><br />We know what comes next. The forty days of lent, the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the last supper, the crucifixion and eventually the resurrection. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s take a moment to stand here on the mountaintop, to consider our own selves on the brink of transition – transition into a new liturgical season and transition into a new space for our work. Transition is scary. New things are scary and often hard. Sometimes we don’t feel ready for the change, something we feel that we are incapable of bearing it. We so easily forget that the journey up the mountain, the journey into the wilderness, can carry with it the potential for transformation. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cvDyvjz8xfg/UxNiEUyb3tI/AAAAAAAABGg/vhih7Lf3qkQ/s1600/kintsukuroi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cvDyvjz8xfg/UxNiEUyb3tI/AAAAAAAABGg/vhih7Lf3qkQ/s1600/kintsukuroi.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>In Japanese, there is a word called <i>kintsukuroi</i>, which means to repair with gold. It was a word that came into mind when I read over today’s Scriptures, a word that refers to the art of repairing broken pottery with gold and silver lacquer and understanding that the pottery is more beautiful for having been broken because it is precisely those broken shards that allow the luminescent gold to show. This fits in with the transfiguration. The disciples were not perfect people. These were ordinary individuals, each with their faults, each asked to take up their cross and follow Jesus. Asked to leave behind their family and their possessions and enter into this journey with Christ. We, too, are invited into that journey, into the moment of the transfiguration. How will we let Christ transform us? How will we let him repair our brokenness with gold so that we are more beautiful for it? <br /><center></center>Kori Pacyniakhttps://plus.google.com/114372455228618247134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-33406832710996024772014-02-27T10:22:00.003-05:002018-07-26T01:38:00.217-04:00An Update on the Rev. Gwen FryAn update to <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2014/02/Integrity-TransEpiscopal-JointStatement-RevGwenFry.html">yesterday's statement</a>:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.integrityusa.org/">Integrity USA</a> and <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/">TransEpiscopal</a> were saddened to learn that the Rev. Gwen Fry is no longer the Priest in Charge of Grace Episcopal Church in Pine Bluff, AR. We pray for healing for the Rev. Fry, for Grace Church, for the Diocese of Arkansas, and the wider LGBT community in the coming days and months. <br /><br />We remain clear and confident that the wider family of the Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas – including the Rt. Rev. Larry Benfield— embraces, supports, and is confident in the leadership of the Rev. Fry. We look forward to hearing about the next ordained position into which she will step in the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas.<br /><br />The events of this week point to the need for continued conversation and education on transgender leadership throughout the Episcopal Church. To aid in this process, IntegrityUSA and TransEpiscopal stand ready to offer a wide range of resources, including the short film <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzCANWGsEdc">Voices of Witness: Out of the Box</a>. <br /><br />This weekend Transfiguration Sunday will be observed across The Episcopal Church. We will hear the story of how Jesus walked up a mountain and was transfigured beside Moses and Elijah before three bewildered disciples. Only in Matthew’s gospel does Jesus bend down, touch them, and say, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” <br /><br />This message could not be more timely today. As we stand together on God’s holy mountain, may we be strengthened to walk together through the challenges that lie before us, confident that in the process we will be changed into Christ’s likeness from glory to glory. <br /><br /><i>For further information/comment, please contact:</i><br /><br />for IntegrityUSA<br />Mel Soriano, mel@integrityusa.org <br /><br />for TransEpiscopal<br />The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge, cepart@yahoo.com<br />Ms. Donna Cartwright, donnamartina@gmail.com<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">IntegrityUSA &amp; TransEpiscopal's original statement can be found <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2014/02/Integrity-TransEpiscopal-JointStatement-RevGwenFry.html">here</a>, including a statement from the Rev. Gwen Fry.</span>Kori Pacyniakhttps://plus.google.com/114372455228618247134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-89300767111517816102014-02-26T20:03:00.000-05:002018-07-26T01:35:36.486-04:00IntegrityUSA and TransEpiscopal Joint Statement on the Rev. Gwen Fry<span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.integrityusa.org/" target="_blank">IntegrityUSA</a> and <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/" target="_blank">TransEpiscopal</a> stand behind the leadership, courage,&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif;">and integrity of the Rev. Gwen Fry, Priest in Charge of Grace&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif;">Episcopal Church in Pine Bluff, AR, who last weekend came out to her&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif;">congregation as a transgender woman. &nbsp;We also recognize and applaud&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif;">the support offered to the Rev. Fry and to Grace Church by her bishop, the Right&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif;">Rev. Larry Benfield.</span><br /><div class="HOEnZb adL" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><div class="im"><br />The Episcopal Church is committed to the full incorporation and&nbsp;equality of transgender and gender nonconforming people. As the Right&nbsp;Rev. Benfield <a href="http://pbcommercial.com/news/local/local-episcopalian-priest-says-he-transgendered" target="_blank">noted</a>,&nbsp;at its 2012 General Convention, The Episcopal Church passed resolution&nbsp;<a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/resolutions?by=number&amp;id=d019" target="_blank">D019</a>,&nbsp;which stated "that no one shall be denied rights, status or access to&nbsp;an equal place in the life, worship, and governance of the Episcopal&nbsp;Church" on the basis of gender identity and expression. &nbsp;It also&nbsp;passed resolution <a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/resolutions?by=number&amp;id=d002" target="_blank">D002</a>&nbsp;which barred discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression in access to the ordination process. &nbsp;As a church we have&nbsp;declared, as Presiding Bishop Edmund Browning once said, that "there&nbsp;will be no outcasts."<br /><br />In her own statement (printed below), the Rev. Fry notes that this&nbsp;moment is "an amazing opportunity to learn, to grow, to seek out and&nbsp;find the risen Christ in one another in ways we might never have&nbsp;expected." &nbsp;We hope that Grace Episcopal Church will seize this moment&nbsp;as an opportunity to learn, to be vulnerable, to know one another more&nbsp;authentically, to deepen their membership in Christ's body.<br /><br />As our Church continues in the ongoing process of learning and&nbsp;exploring what it means to have transgender people in community and in&nbsp;leadership, Integrity is proud to offer a wide range of educational&nbsp;resources, including the short film <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzCANWGsEdc" target="_blank">Voices of Witness: Out of the Box</a>.<br /><br />The Rev. Fry's commitment to living honestly, to letting her light&nbsp;shine, to growing into her full stature as a member of Christ's body&nbsp;stands as a beacon of inspiration to all of us as we seek and serve&nbsp;Christ in all people, loving our neighbors as ourselves.<br /><div style="font-size: 13px;"><i><br /></i></div><i>For further information, please contact:</i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;">for IntegrityUSA&nbsp;</div><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">Mel Soriano,&nbsp;</span><a href="mailto:mel@integrityusa.org" style="background-color: transparent;" target="_blank">mel@integrityusa.org</a></div><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;"><br clear="none" /></div><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;">for TransEpiscopal</div><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge,&nbsp;</span><a href="mailto:cepart@yahoo.com" style="background-color: transparent;" target="_blank">cepart@yahoo.com</a></div><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;">Ms. Donna Cartwright,&nbsp;<a href="mailto:donnamartina@gmail.com" target="_blank">donnamartina@gmail.com</a></div></div><div class="im" style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"></div><div class="im"><div style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></div>____<br /><br />A Statement from the Rev. Gwen Fry<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/Gwen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/Gwen.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Rev. Gwen Fry</span></td></tr></tbody></table>I would like to express my sincere and deepest thanks to all of my&nbsp;family, colleagues, and friends who have reached out in support of me,&nbsp;of my family, and of our respective parishes. Not all of life's&nbsp;journeys are ones we expect to take. They can be both challenging and&nbsp;filled with wonder. On Sunday I began a journey of conversation and&nbsp;education, of vulnerability, of transition. Because gender transition&nbsp;is something with which many are unfamiliar, it is only natural that&nbsp;there are questions. There may be anxiety, and at times we may stumble. But we also have an amazing opportunity to learn, to grow, to&nbsp;seek out and find the risen Christ in one another in ways we might&nbsp;never have expected. To do this well, I would like to engage&nbsp;with a spirit of respect, patience, peace, and prayer. Everyone needs&nbsp;space and time to talk and listen, to make adjustments, to make mistakes and ask forgiveness, to trust in the communal power of our&nbsp;membership in the body of Christ. My prayer is that we actively&nbsp;cultivate trust, patience, and respect, that we might rediscover the&nbsp;peace of Christ. I invite us all to continue prayerfully walking&nbsp;together in faith.</div><div class="im"><br />Faithfully,</div><div class="im"><br />The Rev. Gwen Fry</div></div>Kori Pacyniakhttps://plus.google.com/114372455228618247134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-39195419270626212742013-05-29T23:19:00.000-04:002013-05-29T23:26:57.472-04:00A Homily for Transgender Day of CelebrationVivian Taylor offered the following homily as part of Boston's first Transgender Day of Celebration service which was held at MCC Boston on May 19th. &nbsp;Rev. James Terry, one of the organizers of the event, <a href="http://www.therainbowtimesmass.com/2013/05/02/transgender-day-of-celebration-comes-to-boston-for-the-1st-time-honors-life/">explained the event</a> as follows: "While many of us suffer severely from oppression of many sorts, our lives can not and should not be reduced to that dimension. TDOC is partly about taking back the public narrative, reminding ourselves and each other that we are alive, that we are multi-dimensional people, and that we have much to celebrate.”<br /><br />**********<br /><i><br /></i><i>My soul doth magnify the Lord : and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.</i><br /><i>For he hath regarded : the lowliness of his handmaiden.</i><br /><i>For behold, from henceforth : all generations shall call me blessed.</i><br /><i>For he that is mighty hath magnified me : and holy is his Name.</i><br /><i>And his mercy is on them that fear him : throughout all generations.</i><br /><i>He hath shewed strength with his arm : he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.</i><br /><i>He hath put down the mighty from their seat : and hath exalted the humble and meek.</i><br /><i>He hath filled the hungry with good things : and the rich he hath sent empty away.</i><br /><i>He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel : as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever. (Luke 1: 46-55)</i><br /><br />I had a very hard time trying to write this little sermon. Don't get me wrong, I love being trans. I love challenging gender norms, I love playing with my appearance, I love getting to play at being tall and maybe beautiful and definitely rebellious against a toxic system of power based on gender and racism and wealth and violence and a hundred thousand other things.<br /><br />I love living into the freedom of being a human, I love knowing the reality of transformation, of ambiguity, and of fluidity. I love the brilliant, fascinating, brave trans people I have met out in the world, who have been a more incredible blessing to me that I could have ever imagined.<br /><br />But writing this sermon worried me. I was terrified that in celebrating I might be white washing the terrible problem that face my people. One opening I considered was "WOOHOO EVERYBODY! The rate of prevalence of HIV among trans women hasn't grown as fast this year so far! Wooo! Maybe in a few cases trans women of color are being imprisoned at slightly less obscene and outrageous rates!" I thought of unemployment and street violence and estrangement from family and addiction and homelessness and the ways in which trans women are not always wholly welcomed into the LGBTQ community and the marginalization of people of color in our community and all the other plagues trans folks suffer and I felt crushed and hopeless.<br /><br />Then on Thursday I learned a family member's cancer, after several months of chemo treatment was found by new hospital tests to be in nearly full remission at the moment. Back in the fall he learned that he had a metastasized cancer that had already spread to vital organs and that his life expectancy was reduced to a few months.<br /><br />I did not allow myself to hope. I tried to come to terms with a God who would not move, who for some reason, some unknowable, probably celestially good reason, would let this person who I love, who I do not know how I could do without, die far too soon.<br /><br />Thurday’s news is not without its caveats. &nbsp;Clinical trial evidence for the chemo drug he is on shows that the cancer can return. &nbsp;All of this must remain a matter of prayer. &nbsp;And perhaps Thursday’s news means only that he was only the tiny tip of a massive bell curve, the winner of some biological lottery, but for me, I have no language to talk about this but as a miracle, the work of Christ in the world, a sign of Christ's irresponsible and promiscuous love.<br /><br />I am knocked flat. I am swimming in a flood. The world is shifted under my feet.<br /><br />What I celebrate today is that trans people will overcome our challenges. Trans people and those that love us will do the hard and painful work to overcome these problems that plague our communities, that harm us. I don't care how bad the situation looks, I don't care how unlikely it is that we will succeed.<br /><br />When it becomes apparent, obvious that there is nothing we can do, that we are clearly beaten, there will still be God, creator, redeemer, sustainer, who is lifting up the lowly, who is pulling the mighty down from their throws, who feeds the hungry and sends the rich away empty. It may be unlikely, but it will be done.<br /><br />I celebrate that despite there being a world of forces against us, despite those forces doing true and terrible harm, that in our respect and love and frank need for one another and God's love and need for us, that we shall overcome!<br /><br />Alleluia!<br /><br />Cameron Partridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730933611590305932noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-35976810146893066092013-03-27T15:23:00.001-04:002013-03-27T15:23:31.018-04:00Integrity Delaware Spring Retreat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1006145901968127634" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} </style><![endif]--><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> 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{mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} </style><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1027"/></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout v:ext="edit"> <o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1"/> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--> <br /><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.95pt; margin-top: 22.55pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">“VOICES OF WITNESS: OUT-OF-THE-BOX”</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.95pt; margin-top: 4.05pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Transgender 101 – Integrity Delaware Spring Retreat</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: 8.15pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 18.1pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: &quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: -.3pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Tahoma;">Integrity Delaware, an Episcopal Church LGBT advocacy group, is hosting a spring retreat April 19<sup>th</sup> &amp; 20<sup>th</sup></span><span style="color: black; font-family: &quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 8.0pt; letter-spacing: -.3pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Tahoma;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: &quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: -.3pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Tahoma;">exploring the world of transgendered people. The retreat will begin with the film “Voices of Witnesses: Out-of­the-Box” produced by IntegrityUSA. This film is a groundbreaking documentary giving voice to the witness of transgender people of faith courageously sharing their stories of hope, healing and wholeness. Retreat leaders are Vivian Taylor and Donna Cartwright, who are transgendered women, and who will share stories of their journey transitioning from male to female. The retreat will also include a Q &amp; A period, worship, and socializing.</span></div></div><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: PMingLiU; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: auto;" /></span> <br /><div class="WordSection2"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YfQ8Vhk6X6U/UVNGtRH0fwI/AAAAAAAAAr0/q3pP77pUyJ0/s1600/Clipboard01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YfQ8Vhk6X6U/UVNGtRH0fwI/AAAAAAAAAr0/q3pP77pUyJ0/s320/Clipboard01.jpg" width="117" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.8pt; margin-top: .85pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1006145901968127634" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="color: black; font-family: &quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: -.4pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Tahoma;">Viv Taylor is a writer, activist, and avid Sung Compline promoter currently living in Boston, MA. She served in the War in Iraq from 2009-2010 and writes about her experiences in war, being a veteran, and being a transgender Christian. Ms. Taylor started transitioning in earnest when she returned to Chapel Hill after serving as a Chaplain’s Assistant with the Army in Iraq. Taylor was part of IntegrityUSA and TransEpiscopal (a transgendered online support group), and their successful advocacy effort at the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in 2012. She offered powerful testimony in support of resolutions that added "gender identity and expression" to The Episcopal Church's nondiscrimination canons on lay and ordained ministry.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: &quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: -.4pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Tahoma;">Donna Cartwright, is an Episcopal layperson in Baltimore Maryland, where she attends St. Bartholomew's church. For many years an agnostic, she came to faith through her transgender journey, joining the Episcopal Church in 2000 in the Diocese of Newark. She was the first trans person to join the Commission (governing body) of The Oasis, the LGBT ministry of that diocese, and served on it until she moved to Baltimore in 2006. She was a co-founder of TransEpiscopal in 2005, and helped lead TransEpiscopal efforts at General Conventions 2006, 2009 and 2012.</span></div></div><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: PMingLiU; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: auto;" /></span> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.05pt; margin-right: .1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-indent: 1.5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: &quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: -.45pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Tahoma;">The retreat will be held at All Saints Episcopal Church, 18 Olive Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, from 3:00pm, Friday April 19 through Saturday, April 20<sup>th</sup> at 4pm. Registration for the retreat may be made online at</span><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: &quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: -.45pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Tahoma;"> </span></u><a href="http://www.integritydelaware.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: &quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: -.45pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Tahoma;">www.integritydelaware.org</span></a><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: &quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: -.45pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Tahoma;">.</span></u><span style="color: black; font-family: &quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: -.45pt; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Tahoma;">The cost of the retreat is $75/per person. Discount rooms available at the Boardwalk Plaza Hotel (302) 227-7169 (ask for Integrity Group Rate), and the Atlantic Sands Hotel, call 1-800-422-0660 (Ask for Integrity Block #7059). For additional information call Rita Nelson (302) 945-7520 or Elizabeth Kaeton (302) 231-8246.</span></div>Shellynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-86992238921060137402013-02-22T20:33:00.001-05:002013-02-22T20:33:46.090-05:00Encounter and Conviction-- Bishop Shaw on Michelle Kosilek <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dt7JDtKxehg/USgYd6_R6jI/AAAAAAAAAkw/if2vPP8veHY/s1600/shaw1.r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dt7JDtKxehg/USgYd6_R6jI/AAAAAAAAAkw/if2vPP8veHY/s320/shaw1.r.jpg" width="206" /></a>About a month ago, Bishop Tom Shaw of the Episcopal Diocese of Masachusetts wrote a <a href="http://www.diomass.org/blog/bishops-reflections/place-god%E2%80%99s-convincing">blog post</a> about a recent encounter at the gym.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I just came across it this evening, and was moved to post it here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The post reflects on the case of Michelle Kosilek, a transgender woman who was convicted of murder in the 1990s and has recently been in the news because of a judge's decision that the state should cover the cost of her medical transition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>As I remarked in the comment I added to Bishop Shaw's post, seeing the steady stream of stories in the paper about Kosilek, and the predictable backlash against her was pretty demoralizing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>A <a href="http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/blogs/bostonspirit/2012/12/local_leaders_on_why_michelle.html">December Boston Globe op ed</a> put it this way:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">“For the judicial system, the case [for MA paying for Kosilek’s surgery] is a no brainer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>For just about everyone else the case can be confusing at a minimum, and downright infuriating at its worst. And some of those most disturbed by the case are often those who, like Kosilek, identify as transgender.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>I have heard people in the community wonder how someone who committed murder could potentially have her medical transition paid for while most law abiding trans people have to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">if</i>they can manage to save up and/or get a loan.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Kosilek may be far from sympathetic, but at the end of the day, I agree with Judge Wolf’s decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It is an issue of fairness, of respecting her human dignity-- e<i>ven if </i>she did not respect that of the wife she murdered years ago. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>For the state to make an exception in its commitment to medical coverage for those in its prison system would be, as Jennifer Levi put it, “transgender exceptionalism.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Bishop Shaw agreed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>But what particularly moves me about his piece is its prayerful reflection on encounter-- how we do and do not engage one another, and how God continually calls us into this process:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Back at the gym.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>This time the conversation was about a transgender person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>My trainer asked me what I thought about the recent controversy over the ruling of the federal court judge who ordered the Massachusetts Department of Correction to pay for the reassignment surgery of a prisoner, Michelle Kosilek, who had previously been known as Robert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>(The ruling has since been put on hold pending an appeal.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I said that it was my understanding that the prisoner had a gender identity disorder and that it seemed appropriate, as she is a ward of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, that the Department of Correction should provide the remedy of surgery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I personally agreed with the judge.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This is a small gym, so everyone hears every conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Before my trainer could respond, another trainer offered his opinion, which was very different from mine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>My trainer didn’t agree with me either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Back and forth we went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It got pretty heated and, of course, no one’s mind was changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>These are not unkind men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I couldn’t just dismiss them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They are my friends and I’ve known them for years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The conversation stayed with me for days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It even became part of my prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Mostly I was mad at myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I wished I had been more articulate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>You probably know how it is after a conversation like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I kept saying to myself:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>“If only I had said this, then they would understand… .”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The more I went over it, though, I got the clear sense that God was shifting my focus from this unconvincing conversation to the deeper place of my own conviction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>God was asking me how I had come to the place where I could be open to securing the rights of a transgender person. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I knew immediately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It was several years ago in a workshop on transgender issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I didn’t really want to be there but a friend had asked me to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Intellectually I think I understood why someone should have the right to change their sex, but I was pretty uncomfortable with the whole idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Then a transgender woman stood up and told her story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>She was a minister and she spoke of how she had suffered in making her decision and how she had sacrificed her career, friendships and family relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>She told of how alone and helpless she often felt because of the discrimination she experienced, and of how hard it was for her to fulfill her vocation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Wow,” I thought to myself as I listened to her poignant story, “all she wants is to practice her call from God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>She isn’t any different from me, from anyone who takes their call seriously.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Something shifted inside of me, and the Spirit opened me to her dignity as a human being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It’s almost always different when it’s a personal encounter like that, or when it’s someone you know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Somehow their dignity is right there in front of you and it speaks to your dignity as a human being. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">So ever since then it comes to me at odd times in my prayer:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Who else don’t I know?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Who are all the other people I’ve kept at a distance or let circumstances keep at a distance from me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Who is God trying to put in front of me and open me to?<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE</i></div><!--EndFragment-->Cameron Partridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730933611590305932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-26895899836904094752013-02-18T20:43:00.001-05:002013-02-18T20:44:06.601-05:00Formation of the Task Force on the Study of Marriage<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, serif; line-height: 13pt;">On Thursday, February 14, the Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and <a href="http://houseofdeputies.org/">House of Deputies</a>&nbsp;President Gay Jennings <a href="http://www.episcopalchurch.org/notice/presiding-bishop-president-house-deputies-announce-12-member-task-force-study-marriage">announced</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 17.328125px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, serif;">&nbsp;the composition of the Task Force on the Study of Marriage</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, serif; line-height: 13pt;">. Resolution </span><a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/resolutions?by=number&amp;id=a050" style="font-family: Times, serif; line-height: 13pt;">A050</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, serif; line-height: 13pt;">, passed at The General Convention of The Episcopal Church in July, 2012, called for “not more than twelve people, consisting of theologians, liturgists, pastors, and educators, to identify and explore biblical, theological, historical, liturgical, and canonical dimensions of marriage.” &nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">As the resolution specifies, the group is intended to develop tools for theological reflection and norms for theological discussion as part of a wider relational, contextual process:</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol;">·</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.0pt;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">to consider the following issues<span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">in the U.S. and in other countries where The Episcopal Church is located (e.g. parts of Europe, Haiti, the D.R., Venezuela, etc):</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">1)</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.0pt;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">changing societal and cultural norms</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">2)</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.0pt;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">changing legal structures, including legislation authorizing or forbidding marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships between two people of the same sex</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol;">·</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.0pt;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">to develop tools for theological reflection</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">and<span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><i>norms for theological discussion</i><span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><i>at a local level</i></span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol;">·</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.0pt;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">to consult</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">with the following constituencies as part of this work:</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">1)</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.0pt;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">the Standing Commissions on A) Constitution and Canons and on B) Liturgy and Music “to address the pastoral need for priests to officiate at a civil marriage of a same-sex couple in states that authorize such”</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">2)</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.0pt;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">couples in married or committed partnerships, as well as single adults</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">3)</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.0pt;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">Anglican Communion and Ecumenical partners</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol;">·</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.0pt;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">to report its progress<span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">to the 78th General Convention in 2015</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: &quot;Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">TransEpiscopal supports the work of the task force and is proud that its co-convener Reverend Dr. Cameron Partridge has been nominated to it, along with past IntegrityUSA president the Reverend Canon Susan Russell.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>Kori Pacyniakhttps://plus.google.com/114372455228618247134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-76982720560840618322013-02-12T14:57:00.003-05:002013-02-12T15:21:13.700-05:00Into the Cloud: Transfiguration Liberation<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ULF62lPoYDc/URpkgwB-NyI/AAAAAAAAAjo/qIH99rrDoDA/s1600/173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ULF62lPoYDc/URpkgwB-NyI/AAAAAAAAAjo/qIH99rrDoDA/s320/173.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Episcopal/Anglican Fellowship, Harvard Divinity School</i>&nbsp;</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i><a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearC_RCL/Epiphany/CEpiLast_RCL.html">Readings for Transfiguration Sunday, Year C</a></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Monday, February 11, 2013</i></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Transfiguration greetings from inside the cloud. &nbsp;I say this not simply because of the fog that envelopes us here in Cambridge as rain melts our record snowfall, not only because of the in-between place this diocese has entered in the wake of our&nbsp;<a href="http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/01/16/episcopal-bishop-thomas-shaw-says-will-retire/1iX5btqWBh4Q2g5ZeytWrN/story.html">bishop’s retirement announcement</a>, or even in honor of the strange possibility that, as&nbsp;<a href="http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2013/2/11/ACNS5314">this article</a>&nbsp;explains, "a new Archbishop of Canterbury and&nbsp;a new Pope may be enthroned in the same month."&nbsp;&nbsp;I say this inspired by Luke’s unique observation that all of those present on the transfiguration mount were not only “overshadowed” by a cloud but actually, terrifyingly, “entered into it” (Lk 9:34).&nbsp;&nbsp;In some way, Luke seems to do more with the Transfiguration, to link the very paschal mystery to it, and to make that mystery accessible to his readers—to all of us.&nbsp;&nbsp;In the hands of Luke, all of us are delivered into the mysterious liberation that is transfiguration.</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">This cloud-envelopment is not the only unique gift brought to us by the Year C in our liturgical/lectionary rotation.&nbsp;&nbsp;Only Luke, among the synoptic witnesses, gives us a window onto the summit conversation between Jesus, Moses and Elijah.&nbsp;&nbsp;All three accounts tell us that Peter, John and James see these towering figures of the Law and the Prophets.&nbsp;&nbsp;But Luke alone explains that “they appeared in glory” and, most importantly, that “they were speaking of [Jesus’] departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”&nbsp;&nbsp;The term for departure is&nbsp;<span style="font-family: &quot;New Athena Unicode&quot;;">ἔ</span>ξοδον, a word that evokes the Exodus of the Israelites from their Egyptian captivity.&nbsp;&nbsp;Already the gospel story draws upon Moses’ shining encounter, as our first reading reminds us.&nbsp;&nbsp;But Luke’s window onto Jesus’ mountaintop discourse gives us more on which to chew.&nbsp;&nbsp;Jesus was about to&nbsp;<i>embody Exodus.</i>&nbsp;&nbsp;Think about what that might mean.&nbsp;&nbsp;Think of what we know about the journey that lay before him:&nbsp;&nbsp;the downward slope into Jerusalem, the crucifixion, the resurrection and ascension.&nbsp;&nbsp;The shorthand Luke uses for this, the frame through which he wants us to read it is&nbsp;<span style="font-family: &quot;New Athena Unicode&quot;;">ἔ</span>ξοδον.&nbsp;&nbsp;It is&nbsp;<i>liberation from oppression.</i>&nbsp;It is the transformation of an individual body—suffering and death followed by resurrection life—as the transformation of a collective body.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Does this relationship of collective to individual embodiment not shift how you might read Jesus’ words of agency? Do you not hear the notion of “accomplishing” this paschal mystery in a different way?&nbsp;&nbsp;It is not simply a matter of deciding to suffer and to die (which, of course, is not simple in and of itself).&nbsp;&nbsp;This “accomplishment” is about the exodus of a people, or as Paul puts it in our reading from 2 Corinthians,&nbsp;<i>freedom</i>, which flows out from “the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor 3:18).</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Both in written reflection and in iconic depiction, the Christian East has long honored the Metamorphosis (as it is often called, after the term with which Matthew and Mark describe Jesus’ transformation), and has seen in it a deep connection to the mystery of Easter itself. Transfiguration is not only something that happened to Jesus on Mount Tabor, as our unnamed peak is often called.&nbsp;&nbsp;It is also the effect of resurrection power in our lives here and now, as well as at the end of all things, when that power will lift us up from the grave.&nbsp;&nbsp;Transfiguration is the transformation “from glory into glory” to which Paul speaks in this breathtaking vision: “all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3:18).&nbsp;&nbsp;This is not an effect reserved for the end.&nbsp;&nbsp;It is with us now.&nbsp;&nbsp;It is why, “we do not lose heart” as we carry forward in our ministries (2 Cor 4:1).&nbsp;&nbsp;The present, pervasive reality of transfiguration allows us to discern the holy in this cloud in which we stand.</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The idea that to be transfigured is to be changed, to be transformed, to be metamorphosed first drew me to the theology of transfiguration-- as someone who has transitioned, this spoke powerfully to me.&nbsp;&nbsp;The complexity of my gender identity also gave me a particular appreciation for its liminal placement in the liturgical year. &nbsp;But surely I am not alone in my love of the uniquely clear way in which the transfiguration (and more specifically Transfiguration Sunday, placed here, at the threshold of Epiphany and Lent) makes the heart of the gospel-- the good news of God’s transforming, healing, reconciling work -- available to us, a prism through which to see our own lives as in some way part of this larger collection, these stories of salvation history.&nbsp;&nbsp;This combination of liminality and transformation should prompt us to see not only the obviously-set-apart places, the mountaintop locales, but also the more mundane interstices, the in-between spaces of our lives, as places of transfiguration.&nbsp;</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">These thresholds can be temporal, spatial or both.&nbsp;&nbsp;Perhaps we might look afresh at the context of divinity school and of the university more broadly.&nbsp;&nbsp;This context is a crucible—as you surely don’t need me to tell you—a space of intensive formation, and which carries to some degree the anxiety of next-steps, both for students and for faculty and staff.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And so I want to invite us all to consider here and now, in this peculiar perch:&nbsp;&nbsp;What is the&nbsp;<span style="font-family: &quot;New Athena Unicode&quot;;">ἔξοδον&nbsp;</span>you are about to accomplish, or rather, that God is about to accomplish in you?&nbsp;&nbsp;How are you being called to embody the paschal mystery in all its incorporation of death and new life?&nbsp;&nbsp;Stand on this verge today and know that by virtue of your membership in the body of Christ, you too are being transfigured.&nbsp;&nbsp;You, dear friends, are caught up in the mystery of metamorphosis, you are poised to leap up from the sacramental waters of your baptism. In the least likely spaces of your life, you are being “changed from glory into glory,” invited to grow like the engrafted olive shoot you are into the very heart of the living God.&nbsp;&nbsp;The death Christ died and the resurrection life through which creation itself was recast—these fundamental tenets of our faith our not mental exercises, but spiritual realities with deeply concrete implications.&nbsp;&nbsp;As we move toward the dust-filled return of Ash Wednesday and the wilderness territory of Lent, think on this mystery.</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Luke’s vision of the Transfiguration frames our entry into Lent and Easter like no other gospel.&nbsp;&nbsp;To be sure, the placement of this day at the end of the season of Epiphany, as the bookend to Jesus’ baptism (another iconic favorite in Eastern Christianity) works similarly in all three years of our lectionary.&nbsp;&nbsp;Transfiguration stands as the mandorla, the holy hinge on which the cycles of Incarnation and Pascha swing into one another. But Luke’s version alone gives us a prism through which to read the paschal mystery itself.&nbsp;&nbsp;Luke alone truly uses Transfiguration as the key for interpreting the cross and the empty tomb.&nbsp;&nbsp;Luke alone refracts our very body/ies through the lens of Exodus (for an Easter preview, <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=227698814">see Luke 24:1-12</a>).&nbsp;&nbsp;And so again I ask you, what is the&nbsp;<span style="font-family: &quot;New Athena Unicode&quot;;">ἔξοδον&nbsp;</span>that God is seeking to accomplish in you?&nbsp;&nbsp;How are you being called to embody the liberation that is the Paschal Mystery?&nbsp;&nbsp;Amen.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">CP</div></div>Cameron Partridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730933611590305932noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-70435529992666706782012-11-26T18:14:00.000-05:002012-11-26T18:14:08.235-05:00Pastoral Fallout: a Trans Perspective on Women Bishops <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EqE1EyirtJQ/ULPzHXK3JiI/AAAAAAAAAgc/ODuiPWUQ8nE/s1600/Tina+Beardsley.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EqE1EyirtJQ/ULPzHXK3JiI/AAAAAAAAAgc/ODuiPWUQ8nE/s200/Tina+Beardsley.JPG" width="132" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rev. Dr. Christina Beardsley</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><i>The Reverend Dr. Christina Beardsley is an ordained priest in the Church of England, is&nbsp;</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;"><i>a board member of <a href="http://changingattitude.org.uk/">Changing Attitude</a>&nbsp;(which works for full LGBT inclusion in the Anglican Communion),</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;"><i>&nbsp;and has served for a number of years as a hospital chaplain. &nbsp;In the piece below she reflects on last week's vote by the General Synod of the Church of England which fell just shy of allowing women to become bishops there. &nbsp;As she notes, because the various members of the Anglican Communion have somewhat different governing structures, women already are bishops in other parts of the Communion (e.g. Australia, the United States and, most recently, South Africa). &nbsp;Her comments on the church's relation to equality legislation also reflect the fact that the Church of England is a state church. As we reflect with Tina, may we stand in solidarity with all in the Church of England who are struggling, who are angry, who are in pain.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;"><i>CP</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Well, and which way did <u>you</u> vote?” The lady who asked me was sitting with an elderly friend in the High Dependency Unit of the hospital where I work. It was her first remark to me as I introduced myself as a hospital chaplain, the day after the General Synod’s recent vote on women bishops. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">People are angry at the outcome – and rightly so. I explained that I hadn’t had a vote – not at the Synod anyway, but that as a member of a deanery synod I had voted in the clergy elections: ‘and it was passed in the House of Clergy’ I said encouragingly. She seemed to calm down then, knowing that I was ‘on side’. I think that it has probably shocked many women to see television clips of women arguing against the consecration of women as bishops. This lady clearly needed to check me out.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It wasn’t the place or the occasion though to talk about me, or my credentials as a supporter of women’s ordination, which go back a long way. I was there in my role as a chaplain and we quickly moved on to the needs of her friend. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Prior to transition I was a member of Priests for the Ordination of Women, and, of course, the ordination of women in the Church of England enabled me to remain a priest when I transitioned. Most of my working life, though, has been about pastoral care. It’s only in the last six years I’ve become an activist for LGB&amp;T inclusion, and now that I have it’s probably too late to stand for General Synod, even if I wanted to (and I might not be elected anyway). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In any case I’ve felt very ambivalent about the General Synod since 1987, and the personal morality debate initiated by the Revd Tony Higton, which basically set the scene for the marginalisation of LGB&amp;T people in the Church of England. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></div><div><br /></div><br /> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.churchofengland.org/our-views/marriage,-family-and-sexuality-issues/human-sexuality/homosexuality.aspx">http://www.churchofengland.org/our-views/marriage,-family-and-sexuality-issues/human-sexuality/homosexuality.aspx</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">That catastrophe, combined with the painfully slow progress of the legislation on the ordination of women to the priesthood from the late 1970s onwards, means that I’ve never felt wholly confident in the processes and ethos of the General Synod. Perhaps I should have taken time to observe it at close quarters, but each time the Synod is in session I’m either working or elsewhere. Back in July, when the General Synod was meant to have voted on women bishops in York, I was at General Convention in Indianapolis, networking with the TransEpsicopal delegation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">What a contrast between General Convention 2012, where the three transgender inclusive resolutions were passed overwhelmingly by the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies, and the defeat, last week, of the women bishops’ legislation in the House of Laity of the General Synod! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K863-gHw1e8/ULPxxE1Tu2I/AAAAAAAAAgU/V51GeY2G3-M/s1600/Tina+Beardsley+GC2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="269" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K863-gHw1e8/ULPxxE1Tu2I/AAAAAAAAAgU/V51GeY2G3-M/s320/Tina+Beardsley+GC2012.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tina Beardsley in the Speaker's Corner at General Convention 2012&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">On the other hand, the failure of the laity to meet the required two-thirds majority by just six votes was not a complete surprise. It had been evident for some time that this could happen. The legislation had been drafted, redrafted and amended several times, and it’s claimed that there was an orchestrated campaign in the last election to the House of Laity by those opposed to women bishops. If that’s true, it shows just how political the Synod has become, and how the moderate middle need to be more politically aware in future.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In many ways this was not so much a vote about women bishops but about the creation of a measure that could accommodate those – Conservative Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics – who, for different reasons, would be unable to accept the ministry of a woman bishop. From the General Synod vote, and the voting by the dioceses (42 out of 44 in favour), it would seem that those opposed to women bishops are a minority; but the Church of England tries hard to hold on to its conservative minorities. I find that slightly uncomfortable when the Church of England seems to treat other minorities as expendable, though the principle is sound and could, and should, be extended. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">What has shocked people about the latest decision is that a truth that has been hard won, and is now widely experienced in society in general, the equality of men and women, cannot be embraced by the church because of its tenderness to those with conscientious objections. Such tenderness is the Christian way set out by Paul in relation to dietary regulations in Romans 14-15.1 and 1 Corinthians 8, but not when it challenged the inclusive character of the gospel (Galatians 2.11-21). Parallel jurisdiction, which some of the opponents to women bishops appear to want, would likewise compromise the oversight of a woman bishop, leading to a two-tier episcopate. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is the so-called ‘circle that cannot be squared’ which is plunging the Church of England into crisis. Since the Church of England is the Established Church of the land, the General Synod’s legal decisions are subject to scrutiny and ratification by Parliament and there is serious concern within Parliament about the Synod’s inability to progress the legislation in favour of women bishops. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There is talk of making the government’s experience in promoting equality available to the Church of England. Some MPs, and even bishops, are keen for the Church’s exemptions to equality legislation to be lifted. If this were to happen there would be a huge outcry from conservatives but it is something that I have longed for. Back in the late 1970s, when I was lamenting the Church of England’s slow progress towards enabling the ordination of women to the diaconate and the priesthood, the priest who was training me said this: ‘It was scandalous that the Church of England was granted exemption from the Sex Discrimination Act (1975).’ <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">How right he was, and how important now for us, as LGB&amp;T people, that ALL the Church’s exemptions should be removed, not just with reference to the Sex Discrimination Act, but to all the equalities legislation the UK Government has enacted in recent years. Only when the Church of England has finally embraced the principle of equality – which, after all, lies at the heart of the gospel – can it with integrity minister to the tender consciences of those who find such strong meat too hard to swallow. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><!--EndFragment-->Cameron Partridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730933611590305932noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1006145901968127634.post-60409682804293156212012-11-20T12:13:00.002-05:002012-11-20T14:26:37.318-05:00Coming Full Circle: Boston Trans Day of Remembrance, 2012<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}</style><![endif]--><!--StartFragment--><br /><div class="Body"><i>Though today, November 20, marks the official Transgender Day of Remembrance, many communities observed the day on Sunday evening. &nbsp;In Boston, the Cathedral Church of St. Paul hosted the event, organized by a local planning committee. &nbsp;In his comments below, TransEpiscopal member Iain Stanford reports on his experience of the evening, how it brought together his worlds.&nbsp;</i></div><div class="Body"><i><br /></i></div><div class="Body"><i>CP</i></div><div class="Body"><br /></div><div class="Body">This past Sunday afternoon the air was cool and crisp, and thelast of the leaves with their shades of orange and red still clung to thetrees, as I walked across the Boston Common to <span style="color: #000099;">the CathedralChurch of St. Paul</span> to help in the preparations for Boston’s annualobservance of Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). Joining with other membersof <span style="color: #000099;">theCrossing</span> community, signs were put up, linens were put out, and candles lit. This was the third year that the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts wouldhave the honor of welcoming the trans community into our cathedral. </div><div class="Body"><br /></div><div class="Body">In 1998 in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, friends, family,and allies had gathered to hold a speak-out and candlelight vigil in honor ofRita Hester, who had been brutally stabbed to death days before. This was thebeginning. Since then, TDOR has grown into an international observance toremember those in the trans community who have lost their lives due toanti-transgender violence and discrimination. Now in its fourteenth year, thenumber of deaths continues to rise. Sadly, this year’s TDOR remembered <span style="color: #000099;">265 people </span>who lost their lives from November15, 2011 through November 14, 2012. Listening to the stories of loss and grief,I am always struck by the resilience and beauty of people embracing andsupporting one another. It is an evening filled with tears and aches, but alsowith laughter and joy. It is a time to see old friends and meet new ones. </div><div class="Body"><br /></div><div class="Body">As people took their seats and began to settle in for the startof the evening, I sat off to the side collecting my thoughts. Scheduled to givethe welcome with Bishop Shaw on behalf of the Cathedral, I could feel thenervous tension intensifying. Katie Ernst, the Crossing’s Minister for Mission,and liaison to the TDOR committee, came over to try to calm me. I was feelingsomething more than the usual adrenaline rush and nervous butterflies. Was itjust that this was the first time I would speak at the Cathedral? Was it thatthis was the first time I would speak to the Boston trans community? Yes andyes, but there was something more. </div><div class="Body"><br /></div><div class="Body">Two of my worlds were meeting this night. It felt a little likeinviting your friends and family to the same holiday event, where you are hopingfor more than mere toleration-- you are hoping that the two groups mightactually enjoy their time together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>I am grateful that there are many who quite literally embody in ourlives both these worlds—I do not stand alone. Still, being Christian in thetrans community or being trans in the Christian community has its moments ofincongruity. The hurt to many in the trans community in the name ofinstitutional religion, particularly some Christian Churches, looms large.There is much work to be done. I am grateful that my own Episcopal Church is asupportive ally and counter voice to the hurt. </div><div class="Body"><br /></div><div class="Body">Charito Suarez, the master of ceremonies, set the tone of thenight as she sang, “Perhaps Love,” a poignant song of love and loss. She thencalled Bishop Shaw up to the microphone to speak. I was trying to listen, butmy heart was pounding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>+Tomwelcomed the trans community to the Cathedral, explaining how blessed he feltthat the trans community, had trusted him with our stories, how he had grownover the years to understand our lives and struggles more and more, and how hewas committed to being an advocate on our behalf. In particular he told thestory of young man just 14 years old who had touched his heart. </div><div class="Body"><br /></div><div class="Body">And then, it was my turn to speak: I walked up, took themicrophone, and turned around. All of a sudden, facing the people, the Cathedral had just become much bigger than the view from the seats. These weremy remarks … </div><div class="Body"><br /></div><div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">* * *</div><div class="Body"><br /></div><div class="Body">Hello, my name is Iain Stanford. It is my pleasure to welcome youtoday on behalf of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, and especially on behalfof the Crossing community. We are one of several communities that call theCathedral home. We are a community that seeks to practice what we like to callradical welcome, embracing all people, communities, and the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></div><div class="Body"><br /></div><div class="Body">I feel particularly blessed tonight to have two of my worlds cometogether, The Episcopal Church and the trans community. Two years ago, havingjust begun my own transition, I sat right over there, in those seats, for thefirst Trans Day of Remembrance held here at St Paul’s. I listened intently toBishop Shaw <a href="http://blog.transepiscopal.com/2010/11/light-shining-in-darkness-transgender.html"><span style="color: #000099;">as he apologized</span></a> for the way Christians – and especiallyinstitutional Churches -- had treated trans people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>As I listened to his words, my eyes filled with tears, asdid those of the people around me. It was powerful moment, and for many, ahealing one. It lingers still in my heart today. Thank you, +Tom!</div><div class="Body"><br /></div><div class="Body">Tonight that memory, combined with recent events, brings me fullcircle. It is with great joy that I can report to you the events of this pastsummer at our General Convention -- the highest governing body of The EpiscopalChurch. We changed the non-discrimination canons of The Episcopal church -- thelaws by which we govern ourselves -- to include gender identity and genderexpression. </div><div class="Body"><br /></div><div class="Body">We were able to accomplish this feat through the efforts ofTransEpiscopal members, several of whom are here tonight. But more importantly,we accomplished this through you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>We could not have achieved this historic shift without the witness ofthe trans community writ large. As +Tom mentioned, he and the other bishops,and the people in the Church learned from and grew in understanding because ofthe trans community. Without your witness every day, day in and day out, TheEpiscopal Church would not have been able to turn its face. This summer itembraced us. So tonight, I want to say thank you! </div><div class="Body"><br /></div><div class="Body">And again, welcome to my home!&nbsp;</div><!--EndFragment-->Cameron Partridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730933611590305932noreply@blogger.com0